Conducting Public Health Research in a Limited Resource Setting: Challenges and Opportunities

I am an environmental health expert, assistant professor, and chairperson of the Public Health Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand. Between 2008 and 2016, I lectured and conducted research on the health impact of air pollution at the Faculty of Sciences at Saint Joseph University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). Around that same time, I led the Research and Development (R&D) unit at “arcenciel,” a Lebanese non-governmental organization whose mission is to participate in the sustainable development of society by supporting fragile groups and integrating marginalized persons. My main work related to infectious healthcare waste management, hazardous waste, and, more specifically, cytotoxic waste management, and their impact on health and the environment. I oversaw the medical and hazardous waste management training program for medical staff at Lebanese hospitals. I have experience in several types of industries as a Health, Quality, Safety and Environment consultant.

My ongoing studies deal with the effects of ambient air pollution and indoor air pollution on respiratory, cardiovascular, and skin allergic diseases in urban settings, especially in Beirut, Lebanon; waste management in urban and rural settings; and healthcare waste management in Lebanon and several Arab countries in the region. Recently, I was granted a World Health Organization (WHO) fund to study environmental exposures in Lebanese infants. I am collaborating with several national and international institutions to evaluate the health effects of air pollution in Eastern Mediterranean cities. I am an active member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)’s Eastern Mediterranean Chapter. Recently, I was elected Chair of the Eastern Mediterranean Chapter for a period of two years.

I have several international peer-reviewed articles and other publications on waste management and environmental health. I have also given many lectures and presentations at various national and international scientific conferences. Recently, and through the efforts of six institutions we were granted a Federal fund of 3M from the NIH to create the “GeoHealth Hub Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa,” I am leading, as a primary investigator, the Lebanese component of the project. I look forward to drawing on my academic knowledge, practical experience, and technical skills into bringing this project into fruition and ensuring its success.