American University of Beirut - Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

ARU on 'Undernutrition and Obesity' in Lebanon dissemination event

You are cordially invited to attend the dissemination event of the first Associated Research Unit (ARU) on ‘Undernutrition and Obesity’ in Lebanon, which will be held on Friday January 20, 2012, at the American University of Beirut (AUB). This event is organized by the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences (NFSC) at AUB, in collaboration with the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Nutrition Department of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University Saint Joseph (USJ), and the Human Nutrition and Dietetics Department at the University Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (USEK), under the patronage and presence of H. E. the Minister of Public health Mr. Ali Hassan Khalil. This event will take place in Charles Hostler Center, 2^nd floor, Auditorium room 2300, AUB.

The ARU on ‘Undernutrition and Obesity’ in Lebanon was established by the CNRS in 2009, endorsing a collaboration between three academic institutions: the NFSC department at AUB, the Nutrition Department of the Faculty of Pharmacy at USJ, and the Human Nutrition and Dietetics Department at USEK. This ARU on ‘Undernutrition and Obesity’ in Lebanon worked towards achieving research outputs related to determining the prevalence of underweight, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, and obesity in Lebanon, investigating the association between childhood obesity and predictors of chronic disease, formulating food-based dietary guidelines for Lebanese adults, and developing/implementing a school-based nutrition educational intervention program for school-aged children and adolescents in Lebanon.

We would be very pleased if you are able to join.

Click here to view the conference program.

Basics of Balanced and Sensible Nutrition

You are cordinally invited to attend the scientific conference "Basics of Balanced and Sensible Nutrition" to be held on Thursday April 21, 2011, at 9:00 am at Isam Fares Hall - AUB

The conference is organized jointly by the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department at AUB and the LEbanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences in collaboration with Oldways (Changing the Way People Eat). The conference is open to all health professionals, dietitians and students, where international and regional scholars in the field of nutrition and health will be participating. The sessions will highlight the nutrition profile in Lebanon & the Middle East and the role of balanced nutrition, active lifestyles, and hydration in sensible diets.

Attached is the conference program..

Please note that were will be no registration fees. For RSVP please contact Ms. Lisa Bilal by phone +9611343002 or via email: lb16@aub.edu.lb .

AUB Wellness Program Food Safety Event

The AUB Wellness Program

in collaboration with the

Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Environmental Health Safety
and Risk Management Department, and Dietary Department (AUBMC)
cordially invites you to a 2-day Food Safety Event:

IoPP announces American University of Beirut student chapter

IoPP is pleased to announce the installation of a new student chapter: the American University of Beirut (AUB). As IoPP’s first student chapter in the Middle East and North Africa, the chapter’s main objective is to increase knowledge in packaging through teamwork, enthusiasm and determination.

“Through involvement in IoPP’s educational programs, conferences and awards programs, members of our new chapter will be able to cultivate their packaging proficiencies, including building their structural development and design skills,” said Celine Ajjour, President-Elect, IoPP AUB Student Chapter.
The AUB Student Chapter’s goals include increasing packaging and IoPP awareness in the global marketplace, planning and executing seminars, campaigns, events, tours and field trips.

“Since packaging is a global business and as IoPP becomes more globally active, chapters such as the AUB Student Chapter can help to extend the Institute’s reach worldwide,” said Patrick Farrey, Executive Director, IoPP. “The programs that the AUB Student Chapter has in the pipeline will provide great value to IoPP’s membership as well as to packaging professionals as a whole.”

Says Ajjour, the AUB Student Chapter’s mission is to represent the packaging community with pride and knowledge.

“We also want to represent our University in an exceptional way on a local and global level as well as work as a group to learn and implement new packaging technologies and innovations. Our involvement with IoPP will help us achieve those goals.”

For more information about the IoPP AUB Student Chapter, contact Celine Ajjour (President Elect, IoPP AUB Student Chapter) at cra01@aub.edu.lb or Dr. Mohamad Abiad, Ph.D., CPP (Advisor, IoPP AUB Student Chapter), at ma192@aub.edu.lb. Or visit www.iopp.org/aub.

Ten FAFS Agricultural Sciences Department students attend summer training program in Weidenbach, Germany.

Ten students from the Agricultural Sciences Department at FAFS (7 undergraduates and 3 graduates) and two professors (Mustapha Haidar and Musa Nimah) were invited by the University of Applied Sciences in Triesdorf, Germany along with similar number of students and professors from the University of Jordan and Damascus University to join a similar group from the German university for a two-week summer training program in Weidenbach, (September 20 and October 4, 2010). The summer school was initiated by Dr. I. Bashour. The objectives of the training program were to strengthen the intercultural dialog about Conservation Agriculture (CA) between all participants and to promote CA in the Arab region. This fellowship was sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the summer of 2010 and will be repeated in 2011 and 2012.

After immersing themselves in a new culture and mastering the challenges of learning in a new and different academic environment, the AUB students came back with a greater knowledge and a justifiable pride in what they have achieved. The students took lectures, field work, farm visits and most importantly a special visit to the multinational machinery company “Horsch” where they learned about the CA machinery. They also gave presentations about CA in their region. The AUB s tudents along with their colleagues from Syria and Jordan had a successful training in which they received first-hand practical information about CA in Germany and how the German farmers are facing the agricultural tasks and challenges in their country.

Students

LDEM Department to organize the Beirut Landscape Symposium in collaboration with IFLA and EFLA on October 22 & 23, 2010

Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management

The Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, FAFS, in collaboration with the International Federation for Landscape Architects (IFLA) and the European Federation of Landscape Architects (EFLA) is organizing The Beirut Landscape Symposium 2010 which will be held 22-23 October at AREC. Accepting that landscape architecture is a new profession in the Arab Middle East, the participants will discuss the state of the profession, exchange experiences and consider strategies to formalize recognition. Participants include professionals and academics from Lebanon, the Middle East, Europe and the USA. The event is supported through funding from the Provost’s Office and a generous donation from Solidere.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jala Makhzoumi

EFLA

Solidere

IFLA

Tanmia Contributes $5,000 to the FAFS Career Development Center

Tanmia, one of the leading chicken meat-processing companies in the Middle East, donated $5000 to the Career Development Center at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences on June 14, 2010.

Check this link for more details.

AUB Honey Day Strives to Preserve Greenery

AUB's Annual Honey Day, "Bee Not Mean, Let's Go Green!" was held on May 26, 2010, on the lower campus and was hosted by Professor Rami Ollaik's honey-making class.

Check this link for more details.

AVERDA Contributes $5,000 to the FAFS Career Development Center

AVERDA and FAFS struck a strategic partnership with the donation of $5000 to support the faculty's Career Development Center (CDC) on May 14, 2010.

Check this link for more details.

ESDU 10^th Anniversary “Towards sustainable rural livelihoods in the Arab region: A decade of mixed opportunities?”

It has been a decade since the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) was born in Spring 2001 at the American University of Beirut.

ESDU strived since its early days to become a regional center of excellence in R&D serving the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our approach relied on two major pillars:

Breaking away from the traditional compartmentalization of research through the promotion of a “People Centered” understanding of sustainable development that blends classical research methodologies with the then-emerging interdisciplinary and participatory approaches and tools, and by contextualizing these tools and approaches to the MENA context.
Addressing the “Research to Policy Nexus” through a pragmatic approach aimed at making the current understanding from research available to its intended users, and empowering them through various means to address the policy sphere.

We are honored to invite you to our 10^th anniversary seminar “Towards sustainable rural livelihoods in the Arab region: A decade of mixed opportunities?” This seminar should bring together some of our long standing partners, each bringing a backward looking perspective on their experience in the region, their partnership with ESDU and a forward looking perspective on where we should be heading in the coming years.

The event is scheduled on Friday the 21^st of May, 2010. It will include a high level seminar and a Food and Craft Heritage Exhibition bringing together our partners from the community.

Check this link for more details.

Elham and Joseph Cicippio establish 'Endowed Research Fund' at FAFS

Elham and Joseph Cicippio, who were formerly affiliated with AUB, have decided to establish a research fund in their name to "celebrate their high regard and long association with the University."

The Cicippios visited campus on April 8, 2010 to present a check to Provost Ahmad Dallal and Professor Nahla Hwalla, dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS), for the "The Elham and Joseph Cicippio Endowed Research Fund."

Check this link for more details.

NFSC department offers new 3 credit Graduate course in Food Packaging

This course provides the students with the basic knowledge regarding food packaging materials, machinery and technology. It provides an overview of the elements of packaging science and engineering applied to the preservation, distribution and marketing of various food products.

This course also explains the different procedures and food safety requirements for developing, evaluating and testing of food packages in accordance to international standards.

Check this link for more details.

AUB researchers help find ways to market agro-food

Entitled "Effective public policies for the marketing of Lebanese agro-food products," the conference was held on February 17 and attended by politicians, engineers, professors as well as students, thus reflecting the important role this sector plays in the Lebanese economy and in the lives of the general public.

Check this link for more details.

Dean Hwalla named Fellow of International Union for Nutritional Sciences

Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Dean Nahla Hwalla was recently appointed a fellow of the International Union for Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). Dean Hwalla is the first IUNS member from the Middle East to receive this recognition.

Check this link for more details.

World Diabetes Day at the American University of Beirut

World Diabetes Day is celebrated on the 14^th of November of every year. It engages people, from all over the world, in diabetes advocacy and awareness. This campaign, led by the International Diabetes Federation and its member associations, draws the public attention to issues of great importance to diabetes and keeps diabetes in the public spotlight.

In memory of this day, the students of NFSC 292 (Medical Nutrition Therapy I) conducted an awareness campaign at the American University of Beirut, on the 13^th of November 2009, for diabetes education and prevention. The main objectives of the campaign were to increase public awareness about diabetes risk factors, its warning signs and its serious consequences, as well as about the important role of nutrition in diabetes prevention and treatment. Stands were set up next to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and the Engineering buildings to distribute educational material and screen people for diabetes by checking their blood sugar levels. Participants were advised to consult their medical doctor in case of elevated blood glucose concentrations.

Conference on Current Challenges in Adolescent and Child Nutrition

Regional and international experts were gathered for the conference, which focused on eating disorders, obesity, and common hidden deficiencies, in addition to innovative management and intervention approaches for children and adolescents. Organized by the Lebanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences (LANFS) in collaboration with the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), the conference on “Current Challenges in Adolescent and Child Nutrition” was held on October 24 at Issam Fares Hall. The event was held under the patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health and with the support of Nestlé as part of their “10 Signs of Good Nutrition”.

Check this link for more details.

Agriculture Seminar Sheds Light on Food Research Updates

The seminar, which took place in the Agriculture building room 203 on October 21, featured three twenty-minute-long power-point presentations by different scholars from AUB and outside. Organized by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, the discussions focused on some of the advances in research on food and food-related issues.

Check this link for more details.

New Coordinated Program in Nutrition and Dietetics

A new undergraduate Coordinated Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (CP) is expected to be launched in the academic year 2009-2010. The 4 year program is tailored to the meet the accreditation requirements of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Candidates for the CP will be selected during the last semester of the third year of the Nutrition and Dietetics program (upon completion of 96 credits) to pursue their fourth year in completing the dietetic internship at AUBMC or other qualified and approved hospitals.

Other News and Events:

FAFS Awarded ARU by the LNCSR: An agreement was signed between AUB and Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (LNCSR) launching a three-year collaboration between the two institutions whereby LNCSR will establish at the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department an Associated Research Unit (ARU) for “Under Nutrition and Obesity in Lebanon”. The objective of this ARU is to enhance the nutritional well-being and health of children and adults in Lebanon. The Director of ARU is Dean Nahla Hwalla from AUB, in partnership with Dr. Dolla Sarkis from Université Saint Joseph and Dr. Ziad Harb from Université Saint-Esprit, Kaslik. The LNCSR will support this unit with $50,000 annually for a period of 3 years.

New Program in Agribusiness: On November 21^st, 2008, the BOT approved the undergraduate degree program in Agribusiness; a 3 years program that offers students a unique opportunity to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the decision-making processes of business and the technical aspects of modern agriculture and food systems. The program; which will be active as of Spring 2008-2009, offers courses in basic sciences, business, agriculture, and agribusiness management.