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 their 10th Annual Clinical Research Open House. The event is the FM's celebration of research by its students and trainees and took place over three days from Monday May 29, 2023 to Wednesday May 31, 2023 with a total of 15 oral presentation sessions. The sessions included presentation on research work by 6 graduating medical students enrolled in the Scholarly Concentration Track (SCT), 72 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. The event concluded with an awards ceremony where winning presentations were announced for the above-mentioned programs and for best proposals by junior faculty enrolled in the Faculty Advancement Program (FAP).
The awards ceremony started with opening remarks by Dr. Elie Akl, Associate Dean for Clinical Research, who welcomed the deans of the Lebanese medical schools attending as special guests. He also congratulated graduating students and trainees. Next, Raja N. Khuri Dean of the FM and Vice President for Medical Affairs, Dr. Raymond Sawaya and President of AUB, Dr Fadlo Khuri gave inspiring speeches. Then, Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura, Director of the CRI, thanked the CRI staff and CRI partners before sharing videos highlighting two new initiatives at the CRI: “celebrating medical research series" and “take me on AUB tour".
Then four appreciation awards were given to: Dr. Ali Taher and Dr. Hani Tamim for co-founding the FRRP, and Ms. Sara Khansa for her outstanding contribution to the FRRP, and Ms. Lara Hakim for her outstanding contribution to the CRI. Then, the CRI faculty members presented an overview on the different programs that they are leading and described the achievements of each. Then, winners for each program were announced:
Dr. Martine Elbejjani, Co-Director of SCT, announced winning presentations by SCT medical students:
- 1st prize: Dr. Jad Assaf – Advisor: Shady Awwad (Professor of Clinical Specialty Department of Ophthalmology)
“Revolutionizing Ophthalmic Imaging: Unlocking the Potential of Anterior Segment OCT with Artificial Intelligence"
- 2nd prize: Mr. Wissam Mekary – Advisor: Dr. Fouad Zouein (Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology)
“Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers During The COVID-19 Pandemic: Friends Or Foes?"
Dr. Hani Tamim, director of FRRP announced the best oral presentations by graduating residents:
- Dr. Raji Naamani – Anesthesiology – Advisor: Dr. Christian Rouphael
“The routine use of nasopharyngeal airway in the setting of monitored anesthesia care during gastrointestinal endoscopy"
- Dr. Samar Mkhayel – Anesthesiology – Advisor: Dr. Jean Beresian
“An observational study of intra-operative ventilatory management & post-operative pulmonary complications"
- Dr. Divina Justina Hasbani – Dermatology – Advisor: Dr. Dana Saadeh
“Sun Protection Use and Trends in Lebanon "
- Dr. Reve Chahine – Diagnostic radiology – Advisor: Dr. Aghiad Al-Kutoubi
“Hysterosalpingography: A step up for dose reduction"
- Dr. Aed Saab – Emergency Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Tharwat El Zahran
“Lead screening in children presenting to three hospitals in Lebanon"
- Dr. Marwan Azzam & Dr. Lewaa Shoujaa – Family Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Georges Assaf
“Prevalence and predictors of elder abuse in primary care"
- Dr. Wafaa Khaled– Internal Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Hazem Assi
“Outcomes of cancer patients affected by covid-19 in different settings: a retrospective study in Lebanon"
- Dr. Elie Bou Sanayeh– Internal Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura
“Association between the exposure to persistent organic pollutants (pops) and body weight status in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies"
- Dr. Christelle Haddad– Neurology – Advisor: Dr. Hassan Doumiati
“Effect of correction of vitamin D level on idiopathic, non-surgical carpal tunnel syndrome; a placebo controlled randomized clinical trial"
- Dr. Christelle Dagher– Obstetrics and Gynecology Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Anwar Nassar
“Perception of Lebanese obstetricians towards covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy and breastfeeding"
- Dr. Perla Ibrahim– Ophthalmology – Advisor: Dr. Shady Awwad
“Repeatability of pyramidal aberrometer measurements in keratoconus and normal eyes"
- Dr. Noor Hanania– Pathology and Laboratory Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Rami Mahfouz
“Comparison between the accuracy of chest computerized tomography vs. reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in a tertiary care center in Lebanon; along with their correlation to mortality, morbidity and symptoms"
- Dr. Rayane El Mouallem– Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Lama Charafeddine
“Practice and attitude of Lebanese obstetricians and midwives regarding timing of cord clamping in vigorous term and preterm neonates during the Covid-19 pandemic"
- Dr. Michelle Cherro– Psychiatry – Advisor: Dr. Wael Shamseddeen"
“Covid-19: Impact on individuals with pre-existing psychiatric disorders and attitudes towards the vaccine"
- Dr. Robin Rizk– Surgery – Advisor: Dr. Rachid Haidar
“Predictors of clinical outcomes after distal biceps repair"
Dr. Hani Tamim, director of FRRP announced the best oral presentations by graduating clinical fellows:
- Dr. Caline Rhayem – Internal Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Marlene Chakhtoura
“Obesity pharmacotherapy in the pipeline: a systematic review"
- Dr. Dima Habanjar– Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine – Advisor: Dr. Rose-Mary Boustany
“Characteristics of patients with autism spectrum disorder in Lebanon, a retrospective study"
An appreciation award for outstanding contribution to RPP was given to Dr. Margret Shirinian - Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology for her outstanding contribution to RPP
Finally, Dr. Martine Elbejjani, Director of FAP, announced the winners of best proposals by junior faculty:
- 1st Prize: Dr. Lara Hilal- Radiation Oncology-Mentor: Dr. Youssef Zeidan “Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention of pain flares during palliative radiotherapy for bone metastasis"
- 2nd Prize: Dr. Wassim Jalbout - Radiation Oncology -Mentor: Dr. Youssef Zeidan “The risk of secondary cancer from breast radiotherapy"
- 2nd Prize: Dr. Larry Bodgi - Radiation Oncology -Mentor: Dr. Youssef Zeidan “Radiobiological characterization of bladder cancer: development of radiosensitivity predictive assays"
- 3rd Prize: Dr. Nour Mokalled -Internal Medicine-Mentor: Drs. Marlene Chakhtoura and Martine Elbejjani “In patients undergoing autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), does elevated pre-transplant ferritin level correlate with increased liver iron content, and worse post-transplant outcomes?"
- 3rd Prize: Dr. Evelyne Baroud -Psychiatry-Mentor: Dr. Wael Shamseddeen “Prevalence and correlates of emotion dysregulation in children and adolescents with cancer"
Mentorship appreciation awards were given to 3 FAP mentors in recognition of their outstanding contribution:
- Dr. Youssef Zeidan - Radiation Oncology
- Dr. Eman Sbaity - Surgery
- Dr. Anthony Macari - Dentofacial Medicine
To conclude the event, all attendees were invited to a reception and live music entertainment by Andalusia. The band members are residents at AUBMC: Dr. Farah Jaber (vocals), Dr. Jamil Francis (guitar), Dr. Karine Kahil (piano), and Dr. Jad Kassem (percussion).
Congratulations to all winners! We look forward to a successful open house in 2024!