Ghaleb Saab, MD
Director, Oncology/Hematology Program
Riverside, CA 92506
Before moving to California, I was on the academic staff at the AUB Medical Center since 1980. I became Associate Professor and eventually the chief of the Oncology/Hematology department and its research and clinical training programs until 1987 when we moved to the U.S. During my tenure, I was elected as representative of the School of Medicine to the University Senate, and was active member of numerous committees including the Admissions Committee to the School of Medicine.
Another significant activity was overseeing the computerization of the Tumor Registry program, the first of its kind to provide national statistics about various cancers in the country. Those early statistics were the source of a number of publications I authored, comparing disease incidence with the West and other parts of the world. Finally, I also had the privilege to publish a total of 30 scientific papers, some in collaboration with AUB colleagues from various subspecialties at the time. This was a unique academic experience that would favorably compare to that of the finest medical institutions here in the U.S. I feel I am as indebted to AUB as I am to my family for being the person I am today, both professionally and intellectually.
My wife Dida is also an AUB graduate. She has a Masters in Plant Protection, School of Agriculture. After working in her field for a few years, she expanded her studies to the field of Education at the University of Redlands and has been teaching for 14 years. We have two children, Zeina and Faysal. Zeina got her Masters from MIT in Urban Planning and International Development and is now working at the United Nations in New York. Faysal just completed his 2nd year of medical school at UCLA.
I joined the Riverside Medical Clinic in 1990, and recently moved to a state-of-the-art $35 million facility we built in downtown. The Clinic is a 120-physician multispecialty group, the largest of its kind, spread over 7 campuses in Riverside County. The medical oncology department has become the showcase of the Inland Empire. Through integrated technology, our healthcare system is fully electronic, covering medical records, radiology imaging, labs, patient access to records/doctors, chemotherapy ordering/stocking/dispensing and prescriptions e-dispatched to local and regional pharmacies. The practicing physician has immediate access to outpatient and hospital records at the tips of his fingers, from office and from home. The group is certainly spearheading the healthcare revolution at the community level.
Philanthropy is at the heart of my worldly interests outside Medicine. Thanks to my wife Dida, we are quite active in supporting a number of local and national organizations for the advancement of leukemia/lymphoma research and other non-profit worthy causes like the Goeske Foundation. In addition, we have been supporting humanitarian efforts in Lebanon, including our hometown Choueifat. And of course, The House of Lebanon remains at the heart of all this activity, reconnecting us to our past and creating a bridge to future generations