The American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) announced the inauguration of two, new state-of-the-art systems: the Siemens Healthineers’ Varian Ethos adaptive radiotherapy platform and the Biograph Trinion EP2 digital PET/CT system. A launching event for these new innovative technologies was held on Friday, September 4, 2026 at the Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Center (ACC).
The event was attended by AUB President, Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri; Minister of Public Health, Dr. Rakan Nassereldine; Minister of Labor and Director of the Nuclear Medicine Division and Cyclotron Facility at AUBMC, Dr. Mohamad Haidar; Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at AUBMC, Dr. Osama Mohamad; and Siemens Healthineers representatives MEA Medical Affairs Lead, Dr. Nour Uri, and Regional Manager MI, Mr. Thierry Kaeser. The event also gathered members of the medical community, hospital management, and Tamer Frères in celebration of the dual launch.
AUB President Fadlo Khuri emphasized AUB’s commitment to bringing globally leading technologies to the region. “This is part of AUB’s enduring commitment to the public good. In difficult times, it’s tempting to think that investment in advanced medicine, healthcare, and education is a luxury. On the contrary, it’s a duty,” said Khuri. “At AUB, we have always believed that our greatest responsibility is to use knowledge, even if we have to discover it, in the service of humanity. Today, we are putting that principle into practice,” he added.
Minister of Public Health Rakan Nassereldine congratulated AUBMC on its landmark acquisition, saying, “Today, at the American University of Beirut, we celebrate this significant advancement in healthcare services, whether in interventional radiology, radiotherapy, or diagnostic imaging. This achievement is the result of tremendous effort and significant investment by the American University of Beirut, and it is fully aligned with the Ministry of Public Health’s vision for the healthcare sector and the needs of Lebanon.”
Designed to optimize the precision and personalization of cancer treatment, the Varian Ethos online adaptive radiotherapy platform combines HyperSight imaging, artificial intelligence (AI), and automated treatment planning in a single clinical workflow. The platform endorses treatment accuracy while reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissue and critical organs and minimizing its short- and long-term side effects. The technology especially targets cancers where anatomy shifts between sessions or tumors sit close to sensitive organs. This includes cancers such as prostate, bladder, rectal, gynecologic, lung, pancreatic, and head and neck cancers.
Beyond clinical applications, the Varian Ethos platform supports research, offering AUBMC’s medical physicists, residents, students, and trainees a live system to study and train on technology used at leading international centers.
Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology Osama Mohamad highlighted this acquisition as a solid investment for future cancer therapies. “We are investing in better treatment for our patients today, new knowledge for tomorrow, and a generation of physicians and physicists prepared to define the future of radiation oncology,” he said.
MEA Medical Affairs Lead at Siemens Healthineers Nour Uri emphasized on the Varian Ethos’s patient-tailored solutions that allow clinicians to choose the best treatment option for their patients.
“Ethos represents a fundamental shift in cancer care. Rather than adapting the patient to a predefined treatment plan, Ethos adapts the treatment to the patient’s anatomy at each session. This daily personalization helps ensure precise tumor targeting and supports the delivery of truly patient-centered radiotherapy for every patient,” she said.
Complementing AUBMC’s new radiotherapy capabilities, the Biograph Trinion EP2 digital PET/CT system further expands the Medical Center’s advanced molecular imaging capabilities and strengthens its role in education and training in nuclear medicine. The advanced digital PET/CT platform combines high-performance PET and CT imaging with syngo.via software, providing high-quality diagnostic images, efficient examinations, and optimized radiation dose. By combining functional and anatomical imaging in a single examination, the system enables physicians to assess both the biological activity and anatomical features of disease. Its high sensitivity, advanced time-of-flight (ToF) technology, and efficient whole-body imaging enhance lesion detection, image quality, and overall workflow efficiency.
The system supports a broad range of applications across oncology, cardiology, neurology, and nuclear medicine. Its advanced capabilities are particularly relevant to the rapidly evolving fields of precision medicine and theranostics, supporting more personalized approaches to cancer diagnosis, treatment planning, and patient care.
In addition to its clinical applications, the Biograph Trinion EP2 will provide an advanced environment for the education and training of physicians, medical physicists, technologists, residents, and students in modern nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.
Minister of Labor Mohamad Haidar highlighted the importance of the new digital PET/CT system in strengthening AUBMC’s capabilities in early disease detection and characterization. “Today’s introduction of digital PET/CT at the American University of Beirut Medical Center represents much more than a technological upgrade; it is an investment in precision medicine and earlier, more accurate diagnosis. By combining this advanced technology with AUB’s expertise in radiopharmaceutical production, including Amyloid PET imaging for Alzheimer’s disease and N-13 Ammonia imaging for cardiovascular disease, we are expanding our ability to detect and characterize disease at an earlier stage, guide treatment decisions, and ultimately provide patients with the right care at the right time,” said Haidar. “This achievement further reinforces AUB’s role as a leading center for advanced nuclear medicine in Lebanon and the region,” he added.
In his presentation, Regional Manager MI at Siemens Healthineers Thierry Kaeser, accentuated the system’s speed, accuracy, and safety, making it an all-in-one PET/CT scanner. “The Biograph Trinion offers one high-performance digital platform that fully integrates a world-class trio of PET, CT, and post-processing solutions. With outstanding small lesion detectability, excellent quantification, ultra-fast time-of-flight performance, and lower dose, Biograph Trinion delivers all you need to make confident diagnostic decisions for your patients,” he said.
The addition of the Varian Ethos adaptive radiotherapy platform and the Biograph Trinion EP2 digital PET/CT system marks a vital breakthrough in AUBMC’s ongoing mission of advancing patient-centered care in Lebanon and the region. Powered with the latest AI-based features, the new equipment will introduce a new era of comprehensive oncology and diagnostic radiology services in Lebanon and beyond.
About AUBMC
Since 1902, AUBMC has been providing the highest standards of care to patients across Lebanon and the region. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at AUB (established in 1867), which has trained generations of medical students and physicians, and whose graduates can be found at leading institutions around the world. AUBMC is the only medical institution in the Middle East to have earned the five international accreditations of JCI, Magnet, CAP, ACGME-I and JACIE attesting to its superior standards in patient-centered care, nursing, pathology/laboratory services and graduate medical education.
The Faculty of Medicine has graduated over 4,000 medical students and physicians; the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing provides excellent education for the nursing staff, and the Medical Center meets the healthcare needs of over 360,000 patient visits annually.