American University of Beirut

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The Clinical Research Institute (CRI) and the Office of Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Faculty of Medicine (FM) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) held the 9^th Annual Clinical Research Open House that took place over seven days from Wednesday, May 18 to Friday, May 27, 2022 with a total of 15 hybrid sessions. Sessions were not overlapping to encourage interdepartmental participation and different panels of four faculty members evaluated the oral presentations in each session. Throughout the sessions, 23 graduating medical students enrolled in the Scholarly Concentration Track (SCT), presented their research work and received their certificates of completion in the presence of President Fadlo R. Khuri and Raja N. Khuri Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs Raymond Sawaya. In addition, 76 graduating residents and 14 graduating clinical fellows enrolled in the Fellowship and Residency Research Program (FRRP), and 17 research fellows enrolled in the Research Personnel Program (RPP) and Post-Doctoral Program presented their research work. The event concluded with an awards ceremony where winning presentations were announced for the above-mentioned programs and for best proposals under the Nursing Advancement Program (NAP) and the Faculty Advancement Program (FAP).

The awards ceremony started with opening remarks from Dr. Elie Akl, associate dean for clinical research, where he recognized Dr. Samia Khoury for her contribution to the growth and success of the Clinical Research Open House over the past years.  An inspiring speech by the keynote speaker, Dr. Raymond Sawaya,  followed. Shortly after, Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura, director of the CRI, highlighted how the institute turned the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity and hosted all workshops online. Then winners of each program were announced:​

Dr. Martine Elbejjani and Dr. Fouad Zouein, co-directors of SCT, announced the winners among the medical students:

• 1^st prize: Ms. Sahar Assi – Advisor: Dr. Wassim Abou Kheir (Faculty of Medicine – Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology)
  “Evaluating the Radioprotective Potential of Zoledronic Acid and Pravastatin (ZOPRA) on Previously Irradiated Tissues"
  
  

• 2^nd prize: Mr. Wadih El Khoury – Advisor: Dr. Fadi Zaraket (Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
  “Using Computational Models to Monitor and Predict Trends of Antimicrobial Resistance in Europe"  ​
  
  

• 3^rd prize: Ms. Rawan Hammoud – Advisor: Dr. Martine Elbejjani (Faculty of Medicine – Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Research Institute)
  
  “Relationship of Brain Volumes with Behavioral Inhibition and Anxiety Disorders in Children: Results from the ABCD Study"​
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• 4^th prize: Mr. Ahmad Anouti and Marc Moukarzel – Advisor: Dr. Victor Araman (Olayan School of Business – Business Information and Decision Systems)
  
  “Organ Allocation and Optimization: The Case for Liver Transplants"

Dr. Hani Tamim, director of FRRP announced the best oral presentation among the graduating residents:

• Dr. Carol Abi Shadid – Anesthesiology – Advisor: Dr. Roland Kaddoum
  “Reduction of Non-Operative Time using the Induction Room, Parallel Processing and Sugammadex: A Randomized Clinical Trial"
  
  
• Dr. Carla A. Stephan– Dermatology – Advisor: Dr. Jihane Abou Rahal
  “Dermoscopic and Clinical Evaluation of Skin in Patients after Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Single-Center Prospective Study"
  
  
• Dr. Mihran Khdhir – Diagnostic Radiology – Advisor: Dr. Nadim Muallem
  “Diagnostic value of procedural images in CT-guided interventions"
  
  
• Dr. Jennifer Rizk – Emergency Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Eveline Hitti
  “The adherence to international guidelines of management of BPPV in the emergency department of a tertiary center in Beirut: a retrospective chart review study"
  
  
• Dr. Chloe Saadeh and Dr. Elie Toni Korbani – Family Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Jinan Usta
  “Assessment of patient preference for physicians' gender in various aspects and services provided in family medicine at the American University of Beirut community"
  
  
• Dr. Farah Jaber and Dr. Hind El Naamani – Internal Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Iman Abou Dalle
  “Medical, Psychological and Social Aspects of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation on Long-term Survivors"
  
  
• Dr. Rami George Maalouf – Internal Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Jana Al Hashash
  “Are the New Biologics Effective in the Management of Postoperative Crohn's Disease?"
  
  
• Dr. Ghina Kayal – Neurology – Advisor: Dr. Johnny Salameh
  “Sural nerve characteristics in healthy and diabetic elderly population in a Lebanese tertiary care center"
  
  
• Dr. Rima Hajjar – Obstetrics and Gynecology – Advisor: Dr. Tony Bazi
  “Overactive bladder syndrome in nulliparous female university students: prevalence and risk factors including waterpipe smoking"
  
  
• Dr. Nasrine Anais El Salloukh – Ophthalmology – Advisor: Dr. Shady Awwad
  “Selective Corneal Wavefront-guided Transepithelial Photorefractive keratectomy on highly aberrated post-keratoplasty eyes"
  
  
• Dr. Nancy El Beayni– Pathology and Laboratory Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Rami Mahfouz
  “Molecular prevalence of eight different sexually transmitted infections in a Lebanese major tertiary care center: impact on public health"
  
  
• Dr. Yara Neaimeh– Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Faouzi Maalouf
  “Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of the Neonatal Sepsis Risk Calculator in a Tertiary Referral Center in the Middle East"
  
  
• Dr. Zeinab Al Hawraa Bouzekri – Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Lama Charafeddine
  “Effects of Oriental Music Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care (OMNIA): Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Study"
  
  
• Dr. Ghida Kassir – Psychiatry – Advisor: Dr. Joseph El-Khoury
  “Correlates of unscheduled and emergency clinical contact in a cohort of patients treated for psychosis"
  
  
• Dr. Mohammed Mohammed – Radiation Oncology – Advisor: Dr. Bassem Youssef
  “Adjuvant Involved Field versus elective nodal irradiation for N2 non-small cell lung cancer: a dosimetric study"
  
  
• Dr. Shadi Bsat– Surgery – Advisor: Dr. Marwan Najjar
  “Standardized Reporting of Complications of Epilepsy Surgery and Invasive Monitoring: A Single-Center Retrospective Study"

Dr. Hani Tamim, director of FRRP announced the best oral presentation among the graduating clinical fellows:

• Dr. Fatima Allaw – Internal Medicine  – Advisor: Dr. Souha Kanj
  “COVID-19 and C. auris: a case-control study from a tertiary care center in Lebanon"
  
  
• Dr. Ghid Amhaz – Internal Medicine  – Advisor: Dr. Ali Bazarbachi
  “First-Line Treatment of Hairy Cell Leukemia with Cladribine Followed by Rituximab Consolidation Significantly Improves Leukemia-Free Survival"

• Dr. Ghassan Dbaibo, professor, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
  
  
• Dr. Moustafa Al Hariri, research associate, Department of Emergency Medicine

Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura, director of RPP, announced the winners:

• 1^st Prize: Dr. Pia Maria Ghanime - Psychiatry – Mentor: Dr. Farid Talih “
  “Assessing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in individuals with cannabis use disorder utilizing actigraphy and serum biomarkers: a pilot study"
  
  
• 2^nd Prize: Dr. Sara Haddad - Internal Medicine - Mentor: Dr. Souha Kanj 
  "Covid-19 and c. auris: a case-control study from a tertiary care center in Lebanon"
  
  
• 3^rd Prize: Dr. Saadeddine Haidar – Emergency Medicine - Mentor: Dr. Gilbert Abou Dagher & Dr. Ralph Bou Chebl 
  “The prognostic value of biomarker levels and chest imaging in patients with covid-19 presenting to the emergency department"

Mentorship appreciation award was given to Dr. Houry Puzantian, assistant professor at HSON, for her outstanding contribution to RPP.

Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura, co-director of NAP and Mr. Hisham Bawadi,director of Nursing Department at AUBMC, announced the winning research proposals among the nurses:

• 1^st prize: Mr. Mohamad Issa, Ms. Nora Hijal, Ms. Sali Naim and Ms. Rima Hammam – Mentor: Dr. Angela Massouh
  “Predictors for Patients Deterioration Outside Critical Care Units and the Outcomes of RRT Implementation in a Tertiary Center in a Developing Third World Country"​
  
  

• 2^nd prize: Ms. Rebecca El Asmar and Mr. Rami Chami – Mentor: Dr. Angela Massouh
  Appraisal, Burnout, and Coping in Dyads Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer"

Finally, Dr. Martine Elbejjani, director of FAP, announced the winners of best proposal among the junior faculty:

• 1^st Prize: Dr. Hisham Bou Fakhreddine - Internal Medicine - Mentor: Dr. Elie Akl
  
  
• 2^nd Prize: Dr. Nancy Abou Nafeh - Anesthesiology - Mentor: Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura
  
  
• 3^rd Prize: Dr. Ali Ismail - Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine - Mentor: Dr. Mona Nabulsi

Mentorship appreciation awards were distributed to two FAP mentors in recognition of their outstanding contribution:

• Dr. Mona Nabulsi, professor of clinical specialty, Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
  
  
• Dr. Rihab Nasr​, associate professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences

Congratulations to all winners! We look forward to a successful open house in 2023!