American University of Beirut

Message From The Director

​​We welcome you to the Vascular Medicine Program (VMP)!

The VMP is the academic and research arm of the Moufid Farra Heart, Vascular and Kidney Outpatient Center at AUBMC. Our mission is to facilitate and enhance interdisciplinary collaborations in conducting research to mitigate the burden of cardiovascular diseases via the detection, prevention, and treatment of vascular conditions. We devise opportunities for academic development, networking, and research engagement for faculty and students interested in Vascular Medicine.

Faculty, trainees, and research assistants from various departments make up our talented multidisciplinary teams. At AUB, we have clinical, laboratory, imaging, computing, and other resources across campus that allow for the conduct of cutting-edge science. Importantly, VMP affiliates have access to a unique research population: The Lebanese living in a Mediterranean country, including the cosmopolitan city of Beirut, having been subjected to multiple stressors over time and a recent economic crisis. Moreover, regional conflicts have resulted in the migration of refugees to Lebanon. Therefore, there are vast opportunities to study cardiac risk factors and address cardiovascular questions relevant to the population of Lebanon and the region.

VMP-related research activities span across the translational science spectrum from basic science to preclinical studies, clinical research, and public health endeavors. VMP investigators have expertise in various domains such as in studying biomarkers relevant to cardiovascular and renal diseases, vascular dysfunction in various metabolic and non-vascular diseases, vascular and cardiac interventions, structural heart and cardiac electrophysiology research, the genetics of vascular aging and hypertension, pharmacogenetics in the Lebanese population, the effect of air pollution on the cardiovascular system, the use of artificial intelligence in outcomes prediction, and other community-focused work such as diet and cardiometabolic risk, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest management. Moreover, we are well-positioned to facilitate work with device and pharmaceutical companies to help advance science, accelerate access to innovation, improve patient outcomes and help with the implementation of novel therapies and technologies.

Finally, we will continue to build on the foundations that have been set since the launch of the VMP in 2011. We invite prospective collaborators to reach out to us in embarking on exciting research endeavors.​


Ziyad Ghazzal MD, FACC, FSCAI​

Professor of Medicine, Interventional Cardiology

Founding Director Heart & Vascular Institute

Director, Moufid Farra Heart, Vascular and Kidney Outpatient Center

American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center

Adjunct Professor

Emory University School of Medicine


Houry Puzantian PhD, FAHA

Assistant Professor, Hariri School of Nursing

Academic Associate, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Co-Director, Vascular Medicine Program, Faculty of Medicine

American University of Beirut

Adjunct faculty: University of Illinois at Chicago,

Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science​​

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