Changing Children’s Medicine | International and Private Care

Representatives from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and UCL spoke at the Mohamed Bin Zayed Majlis in Abu Dhabi on 22nd May. They spoke about the changing landscape of paediatric medicine and their pioneering research that will help children with rare and complex diseases. Their attendance comes ahead of the opening of The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children.

The Centre is a partnership between GOSH, UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Due to open in London in 2019, it will see hundreds of clinicians and researchers come together under one roof to try and find cures and life-changing treatments for children with rare and complex diseases. The Centre, the first of its kind, was made possible thanks to a generous £60 million gift from Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), and the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), the wife of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the United Arab Emirates.

Professors Gaspar and Kurian are based at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH) in London. Together Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the ICH are world leaders in paediatric medicine. The partner institutions have already developed new treatments that have saved children’s lives around the world. Commenting on the event, Professor Gaspar said: “It’s a huge honour for Professor Kurian and I to attend the Majlis and contribute to a deeper understanding of rare and complex diseases that affect children. The work that will take place in the Zayed Centre for Research which will enable us to make breakthroughs and develop cures for rare diseases quicker than ever before, giving children everywhere the chance of a longer and fuller life.”

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children’s healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital’s pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do – from the moment they come through the door and for as long as they need us.

About UCL (University College London)

UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.

We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables, and are committed to changing the world for the better.

About the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH)

The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is part of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences within the School of Life and Medical Sciences at UCL. Together with its clinical partner Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), it forms the largest concentration of children's health research in Europe.