Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy

The Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy has appointed the first six fellowships established as part of a transformative $150-million gift by the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation in 2011. The recipients are: 

• Lauren Byers, M.D., Khalifa Scholar, assistant professor, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
• Humaid Al-Shamsi, M.D., Khalifa Scholar, assistant professor, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
• Jianjun Gao, M.D., Ph.D., Khalifa Fellow, assistant professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology
• Aubrey Carhill, M.D., Khalifa Fellow, assistant professor, Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders
• Mitchell Frederick, Ph.D., Khalifa Fellow, assistant professor, Head and Neck Surgery
• Ana Korngold, postdoctoral fellow, Khalifa Fellow, Pediatrics-Research

“This program is critical to our success in preparing the next generation of physician-scientists to lead personalized cancer care,” says John Mendelsohn, M.D., director of the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy. “Our mission is to provide personalized cancer therapy for all of our patients and define the new standard of care by improving outcomes and reducing costs.”

The Khalifa Foundation’s gift is the largest in the institution’s history and the largest single contribution from a living person or family foundation to a Texas Medical Center institution or any Texas university. The President of the United Arab Emirates Foundation awarded it to advance personalized cancer therapy and accelerate pancreatic cancer research.

“The Khalifa Foundation’s generosity enables us to maximize the potential of these innovative scholars and fellows. The ultimate goal is to provide patients with personalized, more effective care by determining the specific genetic and molecular abnormalities in each patient’s cancer and prescribing the appropriate therapy that targets them,” says Robert Wolff, M.D., professor and ad interim chair of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Distinguished University Chair of Medical Oncology, Cancer Medicine.

The foundation’s gift is funding construction of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Building for Personalized Cancer Care, a 600,000-square-foot building nearing completion on about five acres of MD Anderson’s Texas Medical Center campus. The building will house the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy and the Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research.