Representing the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, the state-of-the-art Sidra Medical and Research Center will, in her words, "promote healing, inspire learning, and advance scientific discovery."

Located in Education City – which is home to branch campuses of the Weill Cornell Medical College, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University, and Texas A&M University – in the outskirts of Doha, Qatar, the Sidra Medical and Research Center will be the first academic medical center in the region based on the North American model.

Working in partnership with the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the hospital’s three main points of focus will be:

• Providing world-class medical care, primarily for women and children.
• Training medical students and clinicians. (The hospital will be the primary medical education facility for students of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.)
• Contributing to the global body of knowledge in areas such as pregnancy health, infertility, genetic abnormalities, the health needs of children, and diseases specific to women.

Owned and funded – with a US$7.9 billion endowment – by the Qatar Foundation, the Sidra Medical and Research Center is scheduled to open in 2011 with approximately 400 beds. Later phases will see the hospital expand to 550 beds.