Beirut, October 10, 2019: The Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute (NKBCI) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in collaboration with Brigham Women Hospital and Heidelberg University and in joint providership with Cleveland Clinics, organized the second Middle East Neuro-oncology Conference for the second year in a row on September 13 and 14, 2019. The conference aimed at providing an opportunity for local and overseas experts to share their thoughts and insights for the improvement of outcomes of Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors.
Attendees included experts from different subspecialties worldwide, medical oncologists, neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, pathology, radiology and people living from all parts of the MENA region. Attendees had the opportunity to collaborate and reflect on the subspecialized Neuro-oncology program that is established at the NKBCI and on the advanced international standard of care that are applied in the treatment of neurological cancers.
Dr. Hazem Assi, Director of the conference, welcomed the guests, expressed his pleasure in organizing this annual conference, thanked all the international speakers for their tremendous support, and wished the attendees fruitful exchanges in making the conference a successful one.
“AUB’s presence is vital for tackling key challenges in the Arab world as part of the 2030 Vision. It comprises valuing our community and sharing our values, integrating humanities, technology and purpose based education that leads to transforming and advancing world class research agenda,” said Dr. Fadlo Khuri, President of the American University of Beirut.
Dr. Ghazzal, Interim Medical Center Director representing Dr. Sayegh, Executive Vice President for Medicine and Global Strategy and Raja N. Khuri, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, at AUB said, “Our gathering today reflects AUBMC’s continuous quest to raise the level of excellence in healthcare yet another notch and serve as a regional hub in Lebanon and the region for research initiatives.”
According to Dr. Ghazzal, AUB ranks in the top 23% of world universities as per the QS World University Rankings that are based on several indicators. Such indicators include reputation, high-end educational experience, academic reputation with high-quality researchers and a high number of international faculty and students. AUB considerably exceeds the global median according to QS. These indicators show that AUB truly is a diverse university and is succeeding globally.”
“NKBCI is a leading cancer institute in the Middle East, offering a specialized cancer program and advanced clinical research. The Neuro-oncology conference is one of several subspecialized conferences that are held on yearly basis at NKBCI such as BBCC, Lung Cancer Conference, Angiogenesis and immunotherapy and palliative care conference,” said Dr. Saghir, Head of Division Hematology Oncology and Director of Breast Center of Excellence representing Dr. Taher.
Dr. Nizar Bitar, President of the Lebanese Society of Medical Oncology, noted the importance of such specialized conferences that help in improving physician’s knowledge and improving outcome of care in different areas.
It is important to note that the conference aligns with NKBCI’s strategic plan to establish specialized centers of excellence in the treatment of different types of cancers which in turn is an integral implementation of AUB and AUBMC’s vision. The conference offers the opportunity to develop new approaches towards raising awareness and reaching out to the community to help guide the delivery of the needed medical services.
For long, AUBMC has been a leader in the MENA region for delivering excellent patient care, encouraging discovery and research, and providing insightful medical training for professionals. Through holding similar conferences, AUBMC will continue to thrive to improve healthcare services and delivery for the community with respect and dignity to all.
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.