Middle East

The INCTR Collaborating Unit in Saudi Arabia presently consists of three molecular biologists—Drs Marina Gutierrez, Vandy and Colin Hodgkinson—a research physician, Dr Assar Hussein, and a technician, Khalid Siraj. Dr Kishor Bhatia, who supervised Dr Magrath's Laboratory at the National Cancer Institute for more than 10 years, will become the Director of the laboratory program. Dr Robert Hewitt will become the Director of the Tissue Bank for the Research Center of the King Faisal Hospital, with joint appointments in the Department of Pathology and the INCTR laboratory. This is a strong group that should enable INCTR to couple molecular profiling to clinical trials, and make a major contribution to the study of the geography of neoplasia. With our long-standing collaboration with the National Cancer Institute in Cairo, which we hope will go from strength to strength, the INCTR has excellent representation in the Middle East and should be in a good position to develop new educational and research programs in this region.