FHS Events & News
1. Nursing:
-
Events: The Nursing student Sabine Wannous was honored with the LION'S CLUB Award for the year 2023 in recognition of her outstanding academic and professional achievements. The ceremony took place at the American University of Beirut's Alumni Hall, under the theme "Our Nurses Our Future." At the 2023 graduation ceremony, Sabine Wannous received the “Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Award” for her high academic performance, professionalism, and leadership potentials. The graduate Nour Nehme received the “Clinical Excellence Award” in recognition of her reflective clinical care, accountability, and efficient therapeutic relationship with the patients.
- Students’ activities: On May 12, the Nursing Student Society Clubs at the Main Campus, Dekwaneh Campus, and Souk ElGhareb Campus organized vibrant events to celebrate Nurses' Day. Altogether, nursing students along with the FHS Dean, Dr Huijer, and the Director of the Nursing Program Dr. Azar, nursing faculty, and members of the campuses community gathered to enjoy this event. With a focus on creating joyful and engaging activities, the events included lively music, a variety of games, a photobooth and a nursing-themed presentation. In addition, a workshop on the wellbeing of nurses was offered by Coach Sandy Bassil, member of ICF Lebanon.
2. Public health:
GEOHealth Hub on Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa is the fruitful outcome of a national, regional, and international faculty program collaboration. Funded by the National Institutes for Health, the GEOHealth Hub is one of seven Global Environmental and Occupational Health hubs dedicated to high priority health research, data management, curriculum and material development, training activities, and policy support. This program is an international consortium focused on climate change and its impact on health.
The University of Balamand, the Jordan University of Science and Technology – JUST, the Mohamed VI University for Health Sciences, the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Environmental Health, the University of California San Diego, the University of California Berkeley, along with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and WHO’s Center for Environmental Health Action (CEHA) partnered to address the impacts of climate change on health, water, and air pollution and identify gaps and areas of development in environmental and public health through research, training, and capacity building. The University of Balamand’s intervention is led by Dr. Myriam Mrad, consortium, and country principal investigator. Dr. Myriam Mrad and her multidisciplinary team are working on various projects under the GEOHealth Hub such as the impact of air pollution on respiratory, cardiovascular, and skin allergic diseases health outcomes in Beirut, Lebanon among vulnerable groups, the effects on environmental exposures on Lebanese pregnant women and infants, and healthcare system’s resilience to climate change.
The University of Balamand organized the second GEOHealth Hub on Climate Change and Health in the MENA region workshops and conference this year. From June 19 to June 27, 2023, workshops were offered to students from Lebanon, Jordan, and Morocco. The conference, held on the 22nd of June, attracted more than 150 attendees, including experts, researchers, instructors, students, and staff from various regional and national entities. The conference provided a platform for experts in the field of environmental health and climate change to share their latest research on these crucial topics. It also provided a platform for junior researchers to discuss their projects during the oral presentation session. The conference concluded on a celebratory note with awards distributed for the best oral presentations. The event left participants inspired and equipped with valuable insights to address the challenges of climate change and its impact on health in the MENA region.
Please find additional details regarding the conference and workshop on the website provided below:
https://www.balamand.edu.lb/faculties/FHS/Geohub/Pages/Program.aspx
For more updates, pictures of the events, and the latest news, make sure to follow the GEOHealth hub account on
Instagram and
Twitter.
3. Medical lab
A. Prizes and Enrollment at MLS
The Medical Laboratory Sciences program at the University of Balamand upholds the highest standards of scientific skills and employs updated technology in its teaching. Our commitment lies in producing graduates who are critical thinkers, lifelong learners, and active contributors to their societies. We are delighted to see that our efforts have resulted in a significant increase in enrollment, with a remarkable 41% rise in newly recruited MLS students compared to the previous academic year. Currently, MLS boasts the largest number of students in the country.
Our focus has not only been on increasing applicants but also attracting outstanding students. Over the past two years, two of our MLS graduates have been honored with the prestigious "Founder of the University Patriarch Ignatius IV" prizes for achieving the highest cumulative average among all the Bachelor's degree graduates from the university for the academic years 21-22 and 22-23. This achievement fills us with pride and optimism, and we are confident that these exceptional students will shine as distinguished ambassadors of our program.
B. Development of Graduate Courses
The MLS department, with a special focus on the graduate program in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, has been dedicated to enhancing course syllabi and content. In particular, this year's advanced Immunology course offered an exceptional learning experience for our students. We were privileged to host esteemed international speakers from institutions such as Georgetown University in Washington, USA, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA, Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Grenoble Alpe, and CNRS lab in Grenoble.
During the course, these renowned researchers and experts delved into various topics, including Immune checkpoints and their use in HIV and Cancer, Cytokine-based immunotherapies, adoptive cell therapies for cancer, vaccines design and immunogenicity, and Gut Microbiota for cancer prevention and immunotherapy. The students were awe-inspired and deeply appreciated the immense benefit and opportunity to collaborate with such esteemed international guests. This enriching experience has left a lasting impact on their academic journey.
4. Department of Community Engagement
In 2023, the Department of Community Engagement at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Balamand (DoCE) continued implementing its explosive ordnance risk education through its Landmines Resource Center and completed three trainings with sixty participants at the Regional School of Humanitarian Demining in Lebanon of the Lebanon Mine Action Center of the Lebanese Army. Village interventions were completed in thirty different areas of Lebanon reaching 3600 participants, Lebanese and non-Lebanese, male and female, children and caregivers. EORE activities have been funded by UNICEF. Mine Victim Assistance funded by International Trust Fund continued through the provision of medicine and rehabilitation services. Changing of Expertise took place with Iraqi colleagues who were developing their mine victim and other disabled people assistance strategy for 2023-2027.
In the context of the long-term agreement with UNICEF, DoCE team conducted a series of trainings all over Lebanon for UNICEF implementing partners in the context of DIRASA and MAKANI programs. Training themes included; social behavioral change, community engagement, effective communication for development, activating parents-teachers’ associations and students’ clubs, and developing community platforms.
