Clinical Assessments

At the request of National Medical Holding and in support of the medical school at Nazarbayev University, a team of specialists from UPMC will be travelling to Astana in order to perform clinical assessments of key programs at the National Medical Holding facilities. This assessment will help those facilities to prepare for Joint Commission, review technology needs, and evaluate the patient and staff flow in order to enhance efficiency. The first team of UPMC experts will be aiding in the development of programs for surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, and gynecology.

Clinical Trials

UPMC will initiate several novel clinical cancer trials in Kazakhstan this year. Specifically, doctors will be studying the molecular genetic profile of tumor samples from cancers diagnosed in Kazakhstan and comparing these profiles to cancers diagnosed in North American countries. The project will begin with analysis of lung cancers. Training has been scheduled for the Kazakhstan radiologists at UPMC Magee Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Foundation for a New Patient Experience

As construction on the flagship National Research Oncology Center begins, UPMC and Kazakhstani doctors are developing the national cancer program’s comprehensive clinical care model. Building on UPMC’s experience in operating more than 40 network locations in western Pennsylvania, this new model of care, which includes UPMC and Kazakhstani collaboration and nurse training, will bring the latest in cancer technology, treatment, and research to Astana. UPMC is known worldwide not only for their expertise operating one of the United States largest cancer care networks, but also for their capacity to provide state-of-the-art cancer care close to home. More to come in the next edition.