Rima Habib

Medical Laboratory Sciences

Rima Habib is a Professor of occupational and environmental health, and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health, at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut. Throughout her career, she has lead research and made contributions in themes including: Health of displaced, refugee and migrant populations; Ecosystem approaches to human health in poor rural communities; and -Work-related exposures and human health. Grounded in principles of social and environmental justice, Dr. Habib’s research has challenged traditional approaches to occupational health research and public health practice. As a pioneer in gendered analyses of household work and women’s health, Dr. Habib has developed innovative and culturally appropriate approaches for policy makers to recognize women’s domestic labor and its impact on individual and community health. Most recently, her research has focused on the working experiences and occupational health outcomes of refugees in Lebanon, including Syrian refugee populations. Since 2015, she has led a project to assess the working conditions and social contexts of child labor among Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. Her academic research has backed her support and participation in public activism for the rights of workers to basic labor protections, as well as broader state recognition and support of marginalized worker populations, particularly working refugee children. Dr. Habib has helped organize colleagues and allies to call for greater international financial support for economic and social reinvigoration of refugee communities. She is also a founding member of the regional Agriculture, Environment, and Health Network. For her work on documenting the precarious living and working conditions of vulnerable refugee communities, Dr. Habib was recently awarded the OHS Section’s International Award of the American Public Health Association (November 2017). In recognition of her achievements and contributions in the field of occupational and environmental health, she has also been elected as a Fellow of the renowned Collegium Ramazzini.