American University of Beirut

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Steering Committee:

• Rasha Bohsali
  Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut

  Rasha currently holds the position of Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives at the Olayan School of Business at AUB. She assists the dean in coordinating all financial, human capital, information technology and operational analysis, planning, and forecasting associated with OSB’s daily operations and strategy. She also provides oversight in the follow-up, implementation, and evaluation of strategic initiatives and special projects at OSB. In her previous role as Executive MBA Officer, Rasha spearheaded key projects such as digitizing the EMBA program, re-inventing administrative and operational processes by simplification, shifting the customer service culture and further streamlining the program. Prior to joining OSB, when she returned to Lebanon, Rasha counted several years of experience as a project manager for international construction companies operating in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Rasha was responsible, among other things, for managing large real estate development projects from concept to completion, effectively handling personnel, resources, and budgets, and realizing each project’s intended goals and objectives. She boasts a proven track record in operations, business development, strategy, and organizational leadership. Rasha obtained her undergraduate and graduate education at McGill University in Canada and is PMP Certified from the Project Management Institute. More recently, Rasha has enrolled in the Executive MBA program at AUB and is a candidate of the 2020 class.​
  
  
  

• Hoda Daou
  Assistant Professor, Suliman. S. Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut

  

  Hoda is an Assistant Professor in Data Science and Business Analytics at the Olayan School of Business, AUB. She is a Woman in Data Science (WiDS) Ambassador,  co-chairing the Women in Data Science conference at AUB. She is a keynote speaker, participating in regional and international conferences, promoting research and applications in data science and fostering inclusivity in the field. She is a member of the advisory board of McGill University Continuing Education, where she worked on developing the proposal for the data science certificate. Before joining AUB, Hoda worked as a data scientist in a corporate R&D setting in Montreal, Canada, where she was part of a very diverse team of data scientists, working on workforce and sales analytics for giant retailers in North America. Hoda holds a PhD in Computer and Electrical Engineering from McGill University, Canada. During her doctoral studies, her research work focused on the area of healthcare, where she worked on analyzing biomedical signals and developing compression techniques targeting EEG signals of patients suffering from epileptic seizures.  The work she has done in both academic and corporate paths focused on multiple disciplines such as information theory, signal processing and big data. With a strong passion for data science, she wishes to transfer this through her teaching at AUB, her research work, and her involvement in the community.
  

• Lina Daouk-Öyry, PhD                                                                                                                      Associate Professor in Organizational Behavior and HR Management                                  Director of Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit (EHMU)| AUB OSB                       Beirut, Lebanon                                                                           

  Lina Daouk-Öyry is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), specializing in employee assessment, development, and retention particularly in the healthcare sector. Lina is interested in exploring personality, competencies, and other individual differences among healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, and hospital middle managers) and how they influence job related variables relevant to today's business context. Lina is also the Founding Director of the Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit (EHMU), a cross-disciplinary unit based at AUBMC, which promotes the use of data and evidence for improving decision-making and consequently employee experience and service delivery in hospital settings.
  

• ​Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, MD, MPH, FRCP
  ​Professor of Medicine, Founding Director of Calcium Metabolism and Osteoporosis Program, and WHO Collaborating Center for Metabolic Bone Disorders Scholars in Health Research Program at American University of Beirut, Lebanon​

  ​Dr. Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan is Professor of Medicine, Physician-Scientist, at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut, Lebanon. She is founding Director of the Calcium Metabolism and Osteoporosis Program, WHO Collaborating Center for Metabolic Bone Disorders, and of the Scholars in HeAlth Research Program at AUB. Dr. El-Hajj Fuleihan obtained her MD degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB), completed residency and fellowship training at the New England Deaconess and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. She holds a master in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, Clinical Effectiveness concentration. She is the PI/PD on multiple investigator initiated grants, including the NIH D43 capacity-building grant, awarded a 5-year competitive renewal (2020-2025). Dr. El-Hajj Fuleihan’s laboratory focuses on generating evidence on the pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of hypovitaminosis D, osteoporosis, and other metabolic bone disorders. She leads a team that conducts clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, and translates findings into prevention and treatment strategies. She closely collaborates with the Ministry of Health officials and international experts to generate evidence-based national and international care pathways. These include guidance and guidelines on metabolic bone diseases, by OSTEOS, ISCD, IOF, ASBMR and the Endocrine Society. She led the IOF Middle East Africa audit, launched FRAX Lebanon, the first fracture risk calculator in the Middle East. She has mentored over 64 postgraduate trainees and junior faculty; several are pursuing careers in clinical translational research, at AUB, or in the US. 
  Dr. El-Hajj Fuleihan has published on her topics of interest in over 190 publications, mostly peer reviewed original investigations, chapters, invited reviews, and penned invited several Editorials, Scientific Position Statements, and commentaries in the New England of Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Nature Reviews Endocrinology. Dr. El-Hajj Fuleihan is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and recipient of several awards including the 2013 International Society of Clinical Densitometry John P. Bilezikian Global Leadership Award, the 2016 Endocrine Society International Excellence in Endocrinology Laureate Award, and the 2017 Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health Award of Merit. She served as Clinical Science Chair, Endocrine Society’s Annual Meeting 2019; and serves a three year term on its board of directors. She also holds a lifelong appointment as the Bernard Lown Scholar in the Department of Global Health and Population, at the Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health. ​

• Lama Moussawi
  

  Associate Professor of Management Science, Suliman S. Olayan School of Business,
  American University of Beirut

Dr. Lama Moussawi is an Associate Professor at the American University of Beirut, conducting research and teaching in the field of Management Science. Dr. Moussawi graduated with a BS in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut, and has an MBA, Master in Supply Chain Management, and a PhD degree in Management Science from the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Moussawi is actively involved in promoting and supporting women in the field of Data Science. She is the founder and Chair of the Women in Data Science conference at AUB, and the founding chair of the AUB Committee on the Lives and Careers of Women at AUB. She is also a co-PI of a $1.5 million funded research project to develop an index on the status of women in the formal economies in the Arab MENA region. She is actively engaged in issues related to women in operations research at the WORMS (Women in Operations Research and Management Science) meetings at the annual international INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science) conference, as well as the WIEA (Women in Industrial Engineering US-Turkey) workshops. Furthermore, Dr. Moussawi played a key role in developing a Master program in Business Analytics in the Olayan School of Business at AUB. Dr. Moussawi is thrilled to be a WiDS Ambassador, and to host the WiDS conference for the third time at AUB and sees it as a great opportunity to inspire young girls to join the field by showcasing global female leaders in Data Science, and educate the community of students, faculty, and business practitioners about the latest developments in the field.​