Dr. Mahmoud Elzembely currently works as the Medical Director and Head of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Department at Shefa Al-Orman Children Cancer Hospital (SOCCH) in Luxor, Egypt. He is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at South Egypt Cancer Institute (SECI), Assiut University, Egypt.
Elzembely completed his Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery degree from Assiut University in 2006. Thereafter, he finished his Hematology/Oncology residency and fellowship in 2020 at SECI, Assiut University, Egypt. He also had a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant from Seattle Children Hospital in 2016.
His research interests include neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, bone marrow transplant, outcome research, survivorship research and infectious diseases. He published in several Q1 reputable journals including Lancet Global Health, JAMA Oncology & Journal of Global Oncology.
During his career, he has been awarded several honors including the Badr Award (2024) for best clinical research from Egyptian Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ESPHO), El-Tonbary Award (2021) for his achievements in Pediatric Oncology from ESPHO, and the Excellence in Cancer Research Award (2017) from SECI.
He has also been awarded several scholarships, including the Global Health Scholarship from SIOP in 2021 and the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education Scholarship to work and study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington from 2015-17. Elzembely received the Arab Medical Association Against Cancer regional clinical fellowship in 2012-13, a call to spend two months clinical training at King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan, and the King Abdul Aziz Medical City Scholarship to attend the Methods in Cancer Research Workshop organized in collaboration with ASCO in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 2012.
His passion for pediatric hematology/oncology started early during his internship in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Department at SECI. On his first day, he received a 10 year old child presented to the triage in poor general condition with dyspnea, cyanosis, and severe bone pain. The child was referred to SECI by a pediatrician who told his parents that the child had an incurable disease. The child was diagnosed as having acute lymphoblastic leukemia and responded well to treatment. Since that time, Elzembely has realized how the pediatric hematology/oncology specialty can help to decrease the suffering of such vulnerable children and their families.
Elzembely decided to pursue St. Jude Master’s in Global Child Health to gain structural knowledge in epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, and health policy. He believes it is a great opportunity to interact with international oncology health leaders and hopes the program will help him to achieve his dream that all children with cancer in Egypt should receive affordable and high-quality treatment.
Hometown: Luxor, Egypt
Education:
MD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Egypt (2019)
Clinical Fellowship of Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant - from Seattle Children’s Hospital (2017)
MSc, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt (2012)
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.ch) - Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt (2006)
Publications:
Elzembely MM, Al Rawas A, Al-Hebshi A, Alhadi A, Ibrahim AK, Zein AA ... & Madney Y. (2023). Effects of COVID-19 on Pediatric Cancer Care: A Multicenter Study of 11 Middle Eastern Countries. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology 45(1), e87-e91.
Fabian ID, Abdallah E, Abdullahi SU, ... Elzembely MM … & Ghassemi F. (2022). The Global Retinoblastoma Outcome Study: a prospective, cluster-based analysis of 4064 patients from 149 countries. The Lancet Global Health 10(8), e1128-e1140.
Fabian ID, Abdallah E ... Elzembely MM ... & Ahmad A. (2020). Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level. JAMA Oncology 6(5), 685-695.
Elzembely MM, Dahlberg AE, Pinto N, Leger KJ, Chow EJ, Park JR ... & Baker KS. (2019) Late effects in high‐risk neuroblastoma survivors treated with high‐dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue. Pediatric Blood & Cancer 66(1), e27421.
Elzembely MM, Park JR, Riad KF, Sayed HA, Pinto N, Carpenter PA, ... & El-Haddad A. (2018). Acute complications after high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell rescue in pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma treated in countries with different resources. Journal of Global Oncology 4, 1-12.