For the eighth year in a row and to recognize individuals whose scientific research has made or has the potential to make significant contributions towards the improvement of human health, distinguished researchers, students, faculty and notables from various scientific disciplines gathered at Issam Fares Hall for the 8th Annual AUB Biomedical Research Day on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018.
Initiated in 2010, this event continues to grow and serve as a platform that brings together the research community of different AUB faculties, showcasing the biomedical research performed at AUB and providing an intellectual environment and platform for scientific exchange among various AUB researchers fostering collaboration within AUB.
Dr. Ayad Jaffa, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies and Interdisciplinary Programs, welcomed the attendees and introduced keynote speaker, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Peter who gave a presentation on “Assessing Risk for Heart Disease: Where We Are and Where We Are Going”. Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Program, Dr. Rami Mhanna, introduced Dr. Nicolas W. Chbat, NY Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University, who gave a presentation on the “Role of Mathematical Models for Personalized Medicine”.
The awardees of the 2018 Farouk Jabre awards were announced in the presence of Mr. Wissam Jabre, son of Trustee Farouk Jabre, President Fadlo Khuri and Dr. Kamal Badr on behalf of EVP/Dean Sayegh. The prestigious Farouk Jabre Award is a one-year grant that brings together faculty members from different backgrounds who identify a common area of interest and, using their different fields of knowledge, collaborate on a research topic. The awardees were:
- Dr. Massoud Khraiche, FEA, Dr. Ziad Bashour, FM and Dr. Elie Al-Chaer, FM for “Flexible, high-density, photovoltaic penetrating retinal interface”.
- Dr. Humam Kadara, FM and Dr. Issmat Kassem, FAFS for “Host lipocalin 2 expression and microbiota dysbiosis in lung adenocarcinoma development”.
- Dr. Wassim El Hajj, FAS, Dr. Fadi Maalouf, FM and Dr. Hazem Hajj, FEA for “Automated emotion recognition for better mental and medical states of being”.
Following the presentations, poster sessions were held throughout the day which ended with a lunch where awards were granted to outstanding posters. A group of 18 jury members of faculty members across campus judged the posters based on their scientific content, delivery, and the presenter’s handling of questions.
On the day, 158 inspiring posters covering various topics ranging from cancer, biomedical engineering, neurology, and epidemiology, to name a few competed. The competition was held for students, post graduates, fellows, trainees, and residents. The awards of the winning proposals were sponsored by L’Oréal Levant - For Women in Science, The Diana Tamari Sabbagh Scholars Program and Amalouna. The winners were announced by Dr. Jaffa, Mr. Philippe Patsalides, L’Oréal’s Managing Director, the keynote speaker, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Rihab Nasr on behalf of Amalouna and Dr.’s Fuad Ziyadeh and Joseph Ghafari on behalf of DTSSP:
- Basic I: Felice Frey, FM: Characterizing the Molecular Role of TET Family Proteins in Brain Tumors using Drosophila as a model system
- Basic II: Salam Idriss, FM: Deciphering the genome-wide dynamics of regulatory regions during cancer progression using Next Generation Sequencing approaches
- Basic III: Bassam El-Hafi, FM: Assessing Carbapenem/β-Lactamase Inhibitors in Treating Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections
- Biomedical Engineering/Chemistry: Hammam El-Samad, FEA: 3D tissue engineered models for investigation of hypertension roles on vascular remodeling
- Clinical I: Stephanie Hoyeck, FM: Novel Paradigm for Eye Tracking and Vision Screening in Autism
- Clinical II: Sara Khamis, FM: Relation between oligodontia, tooth dysmorphology, and malocclusion
- Epidemiology I: Fatima Hussein, FAS: Particle-bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at an Urban Coastal Site in Lebanon: Seasonal variation, Source Apportionment, and Cancer Risk Estimation
- Epidemiology II: Habib El Khoury, FM: Genetic Polymorphisms in Candidate Genes including CEP72 Are Not Associated With Increased Vincristine-Related Peripheral Neuropathy in Arab Children Treated for Acute Childhood Leukemia: A Single Institution Study
- Miscellaneous: Samer El Hayek, FM: Drugs and Alcohol Themes in Recent Feature Films: A Systematic Content Analysis
- Neuroscience: Batoul Darwish, FM: Effect of Intra-Nigral injection of Endotoxin (ET) on neuronal homeostasis in the Hippocampus
- Cancer [award offered by Amalouna]: Rana Abdel-Samad, FM: Mechanism of Action of the Atypical Retinoid ST1926 in Colorectal Cancer: DNA Damage and DNA Polymerase α
- Diana Tamari Sabbagh Scholars Program (DTSSP) – Basic: Diana El-Hajj, FEA: Engineering biomimetic sulfated substrates for enhanced growth factor binding
- DTSSP – Clinical: Roni Aoun, FM: Effects of Aspirin on Mortality and Re-bleeding in Patients with Non-Variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding (NVUGIB): A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis