Wilmer Eye affiliates with Saudi Arabian eye hospital

Baltimore

-The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has established a collaboration with the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A major focus of the affiliation will be the training of the future leaders in ophthalmology in both countries and beyond. Several Wilmer faculty members will work at the hospital for extended periods, treating patients, teaching, and conducting research.

With financial support from the Saudi government, joint research activities will focus on developing treatments for blinding eye diseases, such as diabetic eye disease, that afflict patients living in both countries and around the world. In addition, a new endowed professorship at Johns Hopkins University will be established to support the work of Hopkins faculty.

“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,” said Peter J. McDonnell, MD, the William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology and the director of the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Abdul Elah Al-Towerki, MD, executive director of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, echoed his comments.

“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,” he said. “This affiliation is supported at the highest levels within the government of Saudi Arabia.”