Department faculty members are recognized internationally and regionally as authorities in pediatric specialties. The research conducted is presented at the international, regional, and national levels. An average of 50 poster or oral presentations are performed per year.
Innovations in research are marked by several achievements, to name a few:
- Dr Rose-Mary Boustany discovered Galactosylceramide to treat CLN3 disease, a deadly disease of children. To date, only supportive therapies are available. The discovery of Galactosylceramide as useful in this disease comes as the result of intensive efforts conducted by Dr. Rose-Mary Boustany along with a team comprised of post-doctoral students graduate and medical students both from Duke University and AUB. The patent for this discovery is co- owned by Dr. Boustany, Duke University and the American University of Beirut. (Nat Rev Neurol. 2013 Oct;9(10):583-98).
- Dr Fadi Bitar and the congenital heart disease genetics research program discovered a new role of NFATC1 gene which causes defects in the human heart valves, the first such discovery in the field. (Hum Mutat. 2006, 27(3):293-294).
- Results of the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia treatment developed at CCCL was presented at the Annual Society of Hematology meeting and published in the American Journal of Hematology. (2012 Jul;87(7):678-83).
- Cutting edge clinical trials is sickle cell disease are being performed in the department. Dr. Miguel Abboud was coauthor on New England Journal article on the effect of the anti-platelet agent prasugrel on prevention of painful crises in SCD (N Engl J Med. 2016 Feb 18;374(7):625- 35).
- Dr. Ghassan Dbaibo was senior and corresponding author on a cutting-edge vaccine trial published by the NEJM (N Engl J Med. 2013 Dec 26;369(26):2481-91).
Dr Raya Saab and the research team ground breaking basic science study on the role of p53 on tumor cells was featured in Nature Middle East. (Mol Cell Biol. 2015 Nov 23;36(3):438-51).