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Newsletter Issue 03

WELCOME NOTE

Dear FHS alumni and friends,

I am delighted to share with you again the achievements of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Balamand. Faculty recruitment has been top on our agenda this year and we have been successful, despite many difficulties, in recruiting 5 PhD holders, 5 instructors, and many part-timers for the four FHS academic departments. In this newsletter, we are profiling some of them while the rest will be profiled in future newsletters. I am happy to report that we have made many strides towards our goal to achieve accreditation of our academic programs. We will be hosting the consultation site visit for the nursing program between November 28 and December 1, 2022. Other programs will be following suit and are actively involved in submitting their preapplications for accreditation. Our International Advisory Board has recently met to discuss the launching of a Center of Health Research and the possibility of establishing an Interdisciplinary PhD program. Their feedback has been helpful for our deliberations and further planning at FHS. Our research efforts, in particular the NIH/Fograty and IOM grants, will be highlighted in this newsletter as well. Finally, I take this opportunity to thank faculty, staff, alumni, students, and our community of interest who have contributed to our recent FHS developments. We look forward to sharing with all of you more significant milestones at FHS.

DR. HUDA ABU-SAAD HUIJER
RN, PhD, FEANS, FAAN
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences

O U T L I N E

PROFILING NEW FACULTY

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

UPDATES ON ACCREDITATION

FHS SUMMER INSTITUTE
2022

FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS

UPDATES ON INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

FHS ALUMNI

Profiling New Faculty

Dr. Joanne Karam joined the Nutrition Department as an Assistant Professor in Fall of 2022. She completed her PhD in 2019 in Food Science & Nutrition from the University of Balearic Islands in Spain after obtaining the Hermes Scholarship. She holds a Master’s degree in Food Science & Technology and a Bachelor degree in Medical Laboratory. For the past three years, Dr. Karam was the head of Nutrition Department at the Modern University for Business and Science MUBS, where she taught nutrition courses, followed up on interns in the hospitals and was involved in several interdisciplinary projects at the School of Health Science (). Dr. Karam was the project coordinator of a WHO funded youth-related project and organized events and seminars according to the WHO health calendar. Dr. Karam served as chairperson for EVALAG accreditation of the research department at MUBS. She is an active member of the national research institute INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban). She is currently involved in projects on the Mediterranean diet lifestyle, body image and food security from a nutritional perspective involving the holistic approach. She currently has eight published papers in peer reviewed Scopus journals. Dr. Karam is a peer reviewer in prestigious journals such as Frontiers in Nutrition. She also served as an external examiner for several PhD theses in the Nutrition Department at the University of Balearic Islands.

Dr. Jessica Saliba joined the Public Health Department as an Assistant Professor in Fall of 2022. She will be teaching undergraduate, graduate, and cross-cutting courses in the field of epidemiology, research, and biology. (join the paragraphs) Dr. Jessica Saliba was an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the Lebanese University (LU) in Beirut, Lebanon. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in several disciplines, Dr. Saliba is strongly involved in biomedical research. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the Holy Spirits University of Kaslik (USEK) in Lebanon, a Master of Science degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a PhD from the Pharmaco-chemistry and Biomolecules Division in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Montpellier University in France. Based on the standing collaboration between LU and AUB, Dr. Saliba established collaborative projects with Dr. Marwan El-Sabban at the Faculty of Medicine at AUB. She spearheaded several projects spanning the fields of cancer, stem cells and smoking--a topic with Public Health significance. She worked with a diverse group of graduate students from all walks of life, with different social, cultural, and educational backgrounds. Dr. Saliba is also heavily involved in Epidemiological and Clinical Research.

Dr. Elias Abdou is an assistant professor of molecular microbiology at the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences at FHS. He is a University of Balamand alumni. He received his BSc in m=Medical Laboratory Sciences and his MSc in microbiology from the University of Balamand. He obtained his PhD in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Montpellier, France. His project investigated Brucella suis adaptation to oxygen deficiency, particularly during establishment of the persistent state. In addition, he evaluated the role of the two component system RegB/RegA, a regulator of both oxidative and anaerobic respiratory systems of Brucella suis, essential for chronic infection in vivo and in vitro. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the center for sepsis control and care in Jena, Germany, he worked on determining the reliability of Raman spectroscopy as a novel machine to differentiate between bacteria at the species level and to detect intracellular Mycobacterium species. In parallel, he compared the efficacy, specificity, and accuracy of Raman spectroscopy to conventional methods and PCR sequencing in detecting and identifying the infectious microorganisms in patient urine samples. Before joining the his alma mater—the University of Balamand, he worked in a pharmaceutical company as a quality control manager a and project developer.

Ms. Carole AbdelKarim joined the Nursing Program as full-time Instructor. Ms. Abdel Karim holds a BSN from HSON ? AUB and a Masters of Science in Pharmacology and Therapeutics from the Faculty of Medicine (AUB). Her Masters project focused on the “Association of the Cytotoxic Effects of Waterpipe and Cigarette Smoke Extract with Relative Telomere Length in Breast Cancer Cells.”She received several awards among which was “The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.”She has more than 7 years of experience as a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at AUBMC.

Department of Community Engagement

Ms. Sanaa Chabbani’s Award

The International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) has included Ms. Sanaa Chabbani, on its list of prestigious children's authors for the year 2022. Her most recent works are among the 163 authors, illustrators, and translators whose names have been submitted for the 2022 Honor List. Ms. Chabbani is an Instructor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Balamand and also a writer of children’s books.

She also works as a project officer and educational expert at the Department of Community Engagement. She has worked as a trainer of trainers and conducted workshops around Lebanon to increase the capacity of teachers, scout leaders, outreach workers, and other local community stakeholders. Ms. Chabbani holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from the Lebanese American University (LAU), and a Master's degree in School Counseling from the Lebanese University. She is a PhD candidate in educational sciences at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the Saint Joseph University, Lebanon. She has written around 100 stories and translated many other stories to Arabic.

Ms. Chabbani was first acknowledged as a writer when the UNESCO Regional Bureau in Beirut published her children's book Hatta Ankoulouka Ila Alami in 2010. In 2011, her piece, « l Nabi' », won the "Learn to Care" prize. She won the Sharjah Award for Children's Book in 2012 with her book What Have You Decided, Malik? In 2017, her book The Battle of Antara Ibn Shaddadwas shortlisted for an Etisalat Award in the Arabic Children's Literature for Young Adults. In 2021, The International Youth Library included her story "Nour"in its yearly booklet. In 2021, her story " Lougoz el Tabek el Tase’ " was chosen to be read by around 70,000 elementary students in the UAE. In 2022, her story book Ziyara Gheir Moutakaa: Gibran Khalil Gibran, was considered distinguished for excellence by the IBBY Honour List 2022.

The IBBY Honor List Catalogue includes books that are considered to be outstanding for the quality of their writing, illustration, and translation. The Honor List books will be shown at several traveling exhibitions in Japan, Russia, the USA, and at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2023, and will be kept as permanent deposits at the International Library in Munich and other research collections worldwide. The IBBY aims to encourage international understanding through children’s literature by showcasing the books that best represent it in each of the IBBY member countries.

Updates on Accreditation

The Faculty of Health Sciences accreditation processes are progressing as follows:

The Nursing Program received its official eligibility status and will be hosting the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) team, from Monday November 28, 2022 until Thursday, December 1, 2022, for a candidacy site visit to UOB’s different campuses. During these visits, the UOB and FHS management, administration, department, faculty, students, alumni, and stakeholders will support the Nursing Program and will be meeting the ACEN visitors to answer their questions and provide clarifications. Consequently, the Director of the Program, the faculty and the FHS accreditation office are in the process of preparing the Candidacy Presentation along with the updated documents required.

The Nutritional Sciences department is in the process of finalizing the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) candidacy application. The team finished the five years strategic plan and is in the process of finishing their curriculum mapping, and syllabi review to be added to the application. The team will be ready to send the application along with the supporting documents no later than November, 2022.

The Public Health department is still in the process of fulfilling the requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) candidacy application. The Public Health department team is in the process of discussing their five year strategic plan review, the curriculum mapping, and their syllabi review. Once these steps are completed, they will move forward with their candidacy application.

The Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) department finished the first online consultation with the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). The MLS department sent the director approval application along with all the documentation required to NAACLS board in July, 2022. The department will be receiving the response before the end of September, 2022. The department is in the process of finishing their five-year strategic plan, their curriculum mapping, and syllabi review.

FHS Summer Institute 2022

FHS Summer Institute 2022 offered 6 courses over one-week periods to UOB students and health professionals
Assisted Reproductive Techniques: 13-17 June 2022
Climate Change: 20-22 June 2022
Health Informatics: 27 June – 1 July 2022
Systematic Reviews: 11 – 15 July 2022
Fundamentals of Tele-Mental Health: 18-22 July 2022
Leadership and Management in healthcare facilities: 25-29 July 2022

Funded Research Projects

The Department of Public Health Received Two Grants to Bolster Research Innovation and Community Support

The University of Balamand, along with Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), the University of California in San Diego (UCSD), and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco, has obtained a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a joint project called “The GeoHealth Hub for Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa.” The $ 3 million grant will be shared by all collaborating institutions to implement the project over the course of 5 years. The partnership also includes the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Center for Environmental Health Action, the University of California Berkeley, and Harvard University.

Leading the project at the University of Balamand is Dr. Myriam Mrad, Assistant Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Public Health. The aim of the GeoHealth Hub is to address the impacts of climate change on health and the environment, identify areas of development, build capacities, and train higher-education personnel in Lebanon, Jordan, and Morocco on air pollution and water quality modeling techniques and advanced environmental epidemiology methods. This project has great transformative potential for the region because “regardless of variabilities and nuances, most of the countries in the region suffer from similar environmental problems which can all be traced back to the same root cause: limited and ineffective environmental health policies,” said Dr. Mrad. The development of environmental health strategies requires political will, but it also depends on the production of high-quality research and reliable evidence to direct and inform said strategies. Higher education institutions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region have a great role to play in climate action, and that is in improving the quality and increasing the volume of climate and environmental health research and building the capacities of their personnel to increase the number of experts in the field. In her letter of support to the project, Dr. Huda Abu-Saad Huijer, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, echoes the same sentiment: “our vision for FHS is to become a world-class Faculty of Health Sciences, transforming education and health care and being responsive to the needs of the population.” Dr. Abu-Saad Huijer expressed her commitment to sustain the exchange of knowledge beyond the period of the NIH funding through adjunct/teaching/visiting professorship positions. “We have the required infrastructure, and we are looking for international collaborations to launch [the GeoHealth Hub] in the best possible way,” said Dr. Abu-Saad Huijer.

In addition to the NIH grant, the Public Health Department has received a joined ?joint ? grant of $40,000 from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) funded by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance. This project is in collaboration with the Society for the Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World (SASTA). This grant aims at strengthening Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) in remote Lebanese areas through the integration of digital health solutions, such as deploying electronic systems of appointment, scheduling and offering synchronous and asynchronous teleconsultations where access to healthcare providers is limited. The project will tackle three areas of intervention: immunization, reproductive health, and mental health. Most notably, to enhance vaccination rates in remote and underprivileged communities, the project builds on the success story of UOB’s vaccination center in North Lebanon, and it enjoys the support and the valuable expertise of Dr. Youssef Bassim, Chief Operating Officer of UOB, and key expert in integrating information technology and its applications into health care management. Dr. Myriam Mrad, who has conceptualized the project and is representing the University of Balamand in this collaboration, explains that digital health solutions for PHCC beneficiaries can mean improving access to high-quality services as well as reducing wait time, work absenteeism, and transportation cost. They also protect from disruption of care delivery in the event of future pandemics or other nationwide events that can impede access to care.

As we celebrate the University of Balamand ranking second in Lebanon for the third year in a row in the QS World University Ranking, it is worth emphasizing that UOB ranked first in Lebanon when it comes to the Faculty-Student ratio. The remarkable feats that UOB has accomplished, despite being the youngest among the 8 most established Lebanese universities, are a testament to the tireless commitment of UOB and its faculty to provide high-quality education despite all challenges. This is why projects like the GeoHealth Hub are crucial to build on the strengths of the university, to train and invest in faculty members, and to provide both faculty and students with research opportunities. It is also important to transfer that wealth of knowledge and creativity into innovative interventions that can benefit and improve the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Updates on International Advisory Board

The FHS International Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. Dean Villaruel, met on June 16 to discuss two documents--the Center for Health Research (CHR) and the Interdisciplinary PhD Program at FHS. The Center will encompass a diverse group of researchers and eventually will include focused Centers of Excellence with potential of becoming WHO Collaborating Centers. The main aim of the center is to create a culture of research to attract intra-and extramural funding, to work collaboratively with national and international partners, and to boost scholarly productivity. The requirements for the PhD program were discussed and it was agreed to conduct a thorough analysis of the requirements of the MEHE to establish PhD programs and to benchmark with similar universities in USA and Europe.

FHS Alumni

Ms. Mireille Chrabieh
Nursing Alumni

Mireille Chrabieh holds a BS in Nursing from University of Balamand and an undergraduate Diploma in Special Education from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She worked as a registered pediatric nurse for 5 years at AUBMC and since 2005 as a special education teacher, coordinator and head of department at Eastwood International School (EIS). She has developed a reputable well-structured special needs department that attained a commendation from “AdvancED International - Accreditation (USA)” for two intervals (5 years each). Ms. Chrabieh is the Founder and Managing Partner, and special education consultant of Special miles (S-miles) center, an educationaland therapeutic activity center in Lebanon for students with learning disabilities and special needs. She is also the co-founder and president of a non-profit organization for special needs students: Special Needs Activity Programs (SNAP). She is the co-founder of the Lebanese Social Enterprises Association (LSE)? Check// to support the affiliated social enterprises, and a member of the United Nations Global Compact Lebanon (SDGs: Quality Education, Health and well-being, etc...). Ms. Chrabieh has won international and UN social and entrepreneurship awards: 1st prize award of Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC), the blessing foundation for women empowerment, UNIDO, MedGeneration, GESS Award in UAE for best inclusion initiative, UN Global Compact SDG 2020 pioneer and International round SDG 2021 pioneer for Innovation in Education, and SPARK in partnership with Berytech to support MSMEs in Lebanon. She has also participated in WEPs (Women Empowerment Principles): A United Nations Program to Target Gender Equality: Empowering Women in the Workplace, Marketplace, and Community, Organized by the UN Women and the UN Global Compact.
Ms. Chrabieh moved to Sydney in 2022 because she was granted an Australian Global Talent Visa as a reward for her achievements which is given for highly skilled professionals to work and live permanently in Australia. Working with people with different challenges is truly her calling and her passion.

Dr. Salah Breidi
Medical Laboratory Sciences

Dr Salah Breidi is an experienced Forensic Scientist and Expert in Forensic Toxicology. Dr Salah Breidi is Currently the Head of Toxicology and Lab Director in one of the leading companies in the healthcare and testing industries in the United Kingdom. He is a University of Balamand alumnus. In 2014, he received his Ph.D. and his dissertation was entitled "Development of Methods to Determine Analytes in a Variety of Matrices with Application to Forensic Science." In 2010, he was awarded his Master’s degree in Forensic Analysis by Kingston University - London. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree (2008) in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Balamand in Beirut-Lebanon.
Dr. Breidi has acted as a forensic expert witness at the United Kingdom and international courts, including the High Court, Magistrates Court, Family Court and Tribunals. He has reviewed and reported both civil and criminal cases. He was also a Forensic Analysis Lecturer at Kingston University and the University of Balamand. He has investigated, reviewed, and reported more than 10,000 cases of toxicology investigations in criminal, family, and civil proceedings mainly in drugs andalcohol. He has written several papers, presented, and published abstracts in the UK and internationally about his research in the field of Toxicology and Forensic Analysis. Salah has presented his research at national and international conferences and meetings around the world.
In October, 2014, Dr.Breidi was awarded a certificate of completion from the Justice Rapid Response (JRR) in conjunction with the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS). The goal of this workshop was to increase the pool of forensic experts that can be rapidly available to the international community and that can regularly assist States, the United Nations system, as well as other international institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) that have the jurisdiction to carry out investigations into such crimes. He is also active in several scientific societies: Registered at the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK ; Fellow member at the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBMS) ; Fellow member at the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) ; Member of the EUROTOX Register of Toxicologists (ERT) ; Member of the British Toxicology Society (BTS) ; Member of the International Association for Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) ; Member of the International Alliance of Clinical and Forensic Toxicologists (IACFT) ; Member of Society of Hair Testing (SOHT) ; Member of the European Workplace Drug Testing Society (EWDTS) ; and Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (CSFS) ; Registered on the UK Register of Expert Witnesses.

Ms. Maya Farah
Master in Laboratory Management Alumni

After attaining a BS degree in Biology and an MS degree in Molecular Biology from the Lebanese American University, M was recruited as the Biology Research Labs’ Supervisor at LAU Byblos. Growing with the department, I gained vast experience in various biological research fields, equipment types, administrative processes, and lab design and renovation procedures.
To further develop my career and transition into the biotechnology industry, I pursued the professional Master’s degree in Laboratory Management offered at the University of Balamand, Faculty of Health Sciences. Here I sought to enhance my years of practical lab management skills with a more theoretical and structured background, as well as gain familiarity in current topics of Quality Management Systems (QMS), such as ISO standards, and Good Manufacturing Practices and other GxPs.
Lately, my profile matched an opportunity to manage the labs at an international stem cell therapy and drug discovery company in Germany. The knowledge I had gained at UOB offered me a competitive advantage. With the knowledge I gained from the University of Balamand, I am able not only to manage and coordinate all aspects of research laboratories, but also to contribute and fit into a quality and GMP team that the company is building.