Reactie #20 Gepost op: 11 januari 2014, 21:17:03
Qatar Cardiovascular Research Center Executive Director honoured by Buckingham Palace
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, the Executive Director of Qatar Cardiovascular Research Center (QCRC) has been awarded the Order of Merit in the New Year’s Honour’s list recently announced by Buckingham Palace.
The Order of Merit is restricted to a maximum of 24 living members at any time, and previous recipients have included Nelson Mandela, Florence Nightingale and Sir Winston Churchill. It is awarded in recognition of the highest level of achievement in the arts, literature, learning and science.
On hearing of the award, Sir Magdi said “it was totally unexpected, and I am deeply honoured to receive it on behalf of the many people in many countries who are working tirelessly alongside me”.
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub established the largest heart and lung transplantation programme in the world at Harefield Hospital (UK), where more than 2,500 transplant operations have been performed to date. During his distinguished career he also developed novel operations for a number of complex congenital heart anomalies. He was knighted in 1991 for services to medicine and surgery. Professor Yacoub’s research covers areas including tissue engineering heart valves, stem cells, heart muscle regeneration, inherited diseases and vaccinology amongst others. He also maintains a strong, ongoing interest and commitment to global health in developing countries.
QCRC was developed by Sir Magdi Yacoub with the Qatar Foundation in September 2010, to research priority areas of cardiovascular disease for Qatar and the Gulf region. It currently has around 25 full time international scientists working at its facility in Doha, and collaborates closely both with HMC hospital and with a number of international partners.