Located in Doha on Qatar Foundation's 2,500 acre Education City campus, the Sidra Medical and Research Center is expected to open in 2012. It will initially have 400 beds with infrastructure to enable expansion to 550 beds in a subsequent phase. Sidra Medical & Research Center is designed to encompass three essential missions:

• World-class clinical care

• Medical education

• Biomedical research

Part of a collaborative effort entitled "one program in multiple institutions," Sidra will work closely with Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and Hamad Medical Corporation in regard to all three missions, raising the standard of health care throughout the country, particularly for Women and Children, and providing valuable opportunities for research and learning. The need for pediatric professionals to access independent advice on the effectiveness, appropriateness and cost benefits of specific health and care interventions; and to implement evidence and evaluate its impact has been recognised in most advanced economies, but current efforts to summarise, disseminate and establish systems for its utilisation are largely confined to other areas of acute care and primary health care. This centre seeks to fill this gap, by providing a service that will be the first of its kind internationally.