The Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore (USA) announced today that it will collaborate in research, education and patient care with the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
"We at the Wilmer Institute have long been interested in the study and cure of blinding eye diseases around the world, and the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is certainly one of the most impressive eye hospitals outside of the United States," says Dr. Peter J. McDonnell, William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology and the director of the Wilmer Institute. "Working in close collaboration with the excellent experts at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, and combining the expertise of our two institutions, will allow for more rapid evaluation of potential new therapies than would be possible with either hospital working alone".
A major focus of the affiliation will be the training of the next generation of leaders in ophthalmology in both countries and beyond. These are the scientists who will be developing new procedures and new treatments for eye diseases that currently are not curable. Wilmer Institute already has trained more than one hundred chairpersons in departments of ophthalmology in dozens of countries.
"We are delighted to enter into this affiliation with the Wilmer Institute," says Dr. Abdul Elah Al-Towerki, executive director of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital. "We chose the Wilmer Institute because of its commitment to excellence and track record of advancing the field of ophthalmology. Both of our institutions have great strengths, and working closely together in this affiliation will allow us to accomplish more, in a shorter period of time, than we could working alone. This affiliation is supported at the highest levels within the government of Saudi Arabia".