Aspire Zone and Texas Health Dallas Organization Sign MoU

Doha, September 11 (QNA) - Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Texas Health Dallas organization (THR). The MoU sets for a strategic partnership to create a joint Center of Excellence focused on research, training, performance and sports medicine in the United States, which shall expand the mission and goals of both organizations. The MoU was signed by CEO of Aspetar Dr. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, and Chief Medical Officer at THR Dr. Steven Singleton. The CEO of AZF and Director General of Aspetar Hospital Mohammed Khalifa Al Suwaidi said: "We are extremely proud that US THR is interested to collaborate with us to establish an Aspetar-like orthopaedic hospital in Texas, which is a new indication of the proficient level that Aspetar has reached in the field of sports medicine and the international reputation it has gained through its unique expertise," "We see this collaboration as another sign of the strong and deep relationship between Qatar and the USA on different levels, and the timing couldn't be better with Qatar hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and North Texas being a site for matches when the US hosts the World Cup in 2026. For us, this collaboration furthers our progress towards achieving AZF vision to become the Reference in Sports Excellence World-wide by 2020," Al Suwaidi added. The Chief Medical Officer for Texas Health Resources and a physician with Texas Health Physicians Group Dr. Steven Singleton said for his part: "We're committed to advancing our sports medicine Program in North Texas and are excited about what the future holds for athletes in the area, and an organization like Aspire has a strong track record of sports-medicine research, education and advanced orthopaedic treatments within an internationally-recognized programme." The MoU paves the way for three core elements of collaboration through the new affiliation: A Research Program to advance the science of sports medicine and to promote and propagate the services of the CoE; An Outreach/Sports Performance Program designed to provide services to and meet the unique but related needs of professional athletes and teams, and collegiate and high school athletes; and Clinical Services needed to support the research, outreach and sports performance programmes. Based on performance, treatment, rehabilitation and research initiatives, Aspetar, a member of Aspire Zone, has been able to become a global leader in sports medicine and exercise science prior to Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup. The new center of expertise will be designed to achieve a similar global and regional entity ahead of North America's hosting of the 2026 World Cup. (QNA)