"Together with Qatar Foundation, Hamad Medical Corporation, the Ministry of Health and the Supreme Health Council, we will work to create in Sidra a world-class facility that raises the standard for health care throughout the country and the region while providing valuable opportunities for research and learning," says Dr. Loughlin, who will continue to serve as pediatrician-in-chief at the Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children's Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "Sidra will be a premier hospital and research facility able to take complex cases that have traditionally been referred to centers in Europe and North America."

The facility is funded by a $7.9 billion endowment from the Qatar Foundation, reportedly the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.

"Sidra is one of the flagship projects of Qatar Foundation and forms part of our long-term vision to contribute to a post-carbon knowledge economy in the country as well as to the development of health care and research. Alongside world-class facilities, we will be recruiting quality physicians and support staff to deliver the range of services currently being planned," says Dr. Mohammad Fathy Saoud, president of Qatar Foundation and vice-chairman of the board of governors and chairman of the executive committee of the Foundation's Sidra Medical and Research Center. "The appointment of Dr. Loughlin is testimony to our aim to recruit world-class talent to take forward the development of this landmark project."

Three key areas have been identified as the medical center's clinical and research priorities: pregnancy health and infertility, pediatric developmental and preventive health, and women's health. Approximately two-thirds of the facility's estimated 400 beds will initially be dedicated to women and children. As many as 10,000 births are expected to take place at Sidra every year (this compares to 5,000 yearly births at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, a large academic medical center on Manhattan's Upper East Side and the Medical College's chief clinical partner).

Sidra will also offer general medical and surgical care, with more areas added as a full academic medical center is developed.

Planners of the facility, which is to be located within Education City, in Doha, Qatar, aspire to create a "hospital of the future," with a full complement of high-technology equipment, including medical information systems and robotic surgical suites.

Dr. Gerald Loughlin

Dr. Gerald Loughlin is a recognized authority on pediatric respiratory diseases, including asthma, cystic fibrosis and sleep apnea.

Dr. Loughlin received his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and a Master of Science in Business Health Care Finance and Administration from Johns Hopkins University. After completing his pediatric residency and pediatric pulmonary fellowship at the University of Arizona Health Center in Tucson, he joined the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida. In 1984, he arrived at Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the Division of Pediatric Respiratory Sciences. He was also vice chairman for clinical practice and senior vice president for medical affairs at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital in Baltimore, Md. In addition, he was associate director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Unit at Johns Hopkins. He joined Weill Cornell as chairman of pediatrics in 2002.

He is the author of numerous publications, and co-edited two textbooks, one focused on diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases in children, and the other, focused on pediatric sleep and breathing disorders. He has served on the board of directors of several major health care organizations, including the American Thoracic Society and the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital.

Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar

Established in partnership with the Qatar Foundation, Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar is part of Weill Cornell Medical College, the first American institution to offer its M.D. degree overseas. WCMC-Q offers a complete and integrated educational program, comprising the three-year pre-medical program, followed by the four-year medical program, with teaching by Weill Cornell faculty. There are separate admission processes for each program, guided by the standards of admission in use at Cornell University in Ithaca and its Medical College in New York City. For more information, visit qatar-weill.cornell.edu.

Weill Cornell Medical College 

Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston, making Weill Cornell one of only two medical colleges in the country affiliated with two U.S.News Honor Roll hospitals. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.