Bio: Ten years ago, I joined the American University of Beirut as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine. I founded unprecedented and exciting research programs in Lebanon that focus on diabetes and diabetes-induced complications. Throughout my tenancy at AUB, I was able to attract more than 8 million US dollars in funding. Currently, my work is internationally considered as a catalyst for understanding and developing new treatments for diabetes-associated complications through multidisciplinary national and international collaborations.
My research activities are part of advancing efforts to find new treatments that will, hopefully, lead us closer to identifying a potential cure for the most disabling and debilitating complications of diabetes. These complications include nephropathy, neuropathy, cardiomyopathy, and the most recently annexed complication, diabetes-induced cancer. Our work investigates the complications from different standpoints including metabolic alterations, genetic predisposition, and epigenetic influence.
In addition to running an active research laboratory, I co-founded the “American University of Beirut Diabetes Program” (AUB Diabetes) in 2017 where research and practice are integrated to create a state-of-the-art program largely driven by robust innovation in treatments and interventions. Furthermore, I was appointed as the Faculty of Medicine Masters’ Programs Director in 2015. In this capacity, and with an insurmountable commitment to graduate education, I implement the smooth, day-to-day functioning of the program. I also ensure the overall academic excellence and quality of the MSc graduate programs, that is roughly comprised of more than a hundred students currently enrolled. Further to that, I also hold the responsibility of coordinating and teaching several medical modules.