Ep. 110: Mettle, with Mubadala’s Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

12/08/20 • 22 min

“The UAE was among the first countries in the world to make sure it implemented and successfully executed a testing policy. We ramped up on capacity, on ICU space, on respirator supplies. And that resulted in one of the lowest mortality rates in the world.”

As the Group CEO and Managing Director of Mubadala Investment Company, H.E. Khaldoon Khalifi Al Mubarak is responsible for creating sustainable financial returns for Abu Dhabi, overseeing more than $230 billion in assets across 50+ businesses and investments in more than 50 countries. Considered one of the royal family’s most trusted advisors, he is especially proud of what the Emirati response to the pandemic tells the world.

“In the easy times you know your people for sure,” he tells Mike, “But the tough times – that's when you know the mettle of your people, be at a company, be it in the country. And 2020 showed the mettle, I think, of the UAE and the Emiratis.”

Previous Episode

Ep. 109: Lessons Learned: The Intersection of Cancer Research and COVID Treatments

Himisha Beltran

Medical Oncologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Felix Feng

Radiation Oncologist and Vice Chair for Translational Research, UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology

Christopher Haiman

Genetic Epidemiologist and Professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Deborah Scher

Executive Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Jonathan Simons

President and CEO, Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)

“The road to curing COVID runs right through lots and lots of cancer research.” – Jonathan Simons, President and CEO, Prostate Cancer Foundation

Three top cancer researchers, the head of PCF, and a VA leader join Mike Milken to discuss how genomics, immunotherapies, and precision medicine are informing the quest for effective COVID vaccines and treatments.

The best practices developed by oncologists in the past two decades are now the standard of care at VA facilities across the country. In discussing the 2016 PCF/VA partnership that established Centers of Excellence, Deborah Scher notes the role oncology continues to play in the pandemic. “We have really built a community of researchers who are bringing best-in-class precision oncology to veterans across the country and are using that platform not just for prostate cancer innovation, but today for COVID innovation as well.”

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Ep. 111: Global Scale, with Leaders from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Sarah Murdoch

Co-Chair, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI)

Kathryn North

Director, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI); David Danks Professor of Child Health Research, University of Melbourne

Hamish Graham

Paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI); University of Melbourne; Royal Children’s Hospital

“With COVID, there's been this renewed focus on the importance of medical research. ... With more funding and with philanthropic partners, I'm really optimistic about the further impact that we can make on that global scale.” – Sarah Murdoch

When Dame Elizabeth Murdoch founded the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in 1986, she wanted sought to create an organization dedicated to making discoveries to prevent and treat childhood conditions. Today, MCRI is Australia’s top pediatric health research institute and among the top three worldwide for research quality and impact, with more than 1,200 investigators in 35 countries.

“We've got our eye on the long-term impacts of COVID,” MCRI Director Kathryn North tells Mike. “We have quite a lot of previous data on the well-being, the health, and the mental health of children and families in our community. But we've now been able to continue to liaise with those families, to look at the direct effects of COVID and then look out into the future.”