Medicine
Miguel R. Abboud earned his medical degree at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon in 1982. In 1984, he completed his residency in the Department of Pediatrics, also at the American University of Beirut. He was a Fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The New York Hospital , Cornell University Medical Center, New york, NY, USA, from 1984 to 1987, followed by his appointment as Chief Fellow in the same department from 1987 to 1988. Starting as an Assistant Professor in 1989, he was appointed Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in 2001. At MUSC, Dr. Abboud’s research focused on sickle cell disease. He authored a number of studies on this disease and was an original member of the steering committees for the STOP I and STOP II trials. He also worked extensively on the pathophysiology of the disease and the development of new modalities of therapy such as hematopoietic stem cell transplant. In August 2002, he became the Medical Director and Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon (CCCL) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon. As the Medical Director, Dr Abboud is responsible for the daily management of both the out-patient and in-patient facilities at the CCCL. During his tenure, he has established highly visible and successful bone marrow transplant, limb salvage surgery, and sickle cell disease programmes as well as an acute lymphoblastic leukaemia research protocol in collaboration with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Division at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, USA. The sickle cell program has grown and now provides comprehensive service to over 300 children and adolescents with this disease. The programs research focuses now on pulmonary hypertension and the vasculopathy in sickle cell disease. Dr Abboud has published above 100 publications in journals such as the American Journal of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant, New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics, Blood, and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Dr Abboud is also a member of the editorial board of Transplantation and Lebanese Cancer Letter and is regional associate editor for Cancer and Regional Editor for Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, in addition to being a reviewer for Pediatric Blood Cancer, American Journal of Hematology, Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, Pediatric Hematology Oncology, Cancer, Blood, and Circulation. During his professional career, Dr Abboud has been accorded numerous awards and honours. These include Physician of the Year by the National Committee for Lebanese Children in 2007, the Teacher of the Year award for the Department of Pediatrics 2005–2006, a “Miracle Maker” award from A.H. Robbins in 1995, the Mitchell Rubin Research Award in Pediatrics in 1993, the Toys“R”Us Fellowship Award for 1988–1989, and the Penrose Award from the American University of Beirut in 1982.