AUBMC Special Kids Clinic (ASKC)

 

About Us

Mission

To provide special kids and their families with compassionate, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive state-of-the-art care promising to optimize their intellectual and physical development in order to prepare them for full integration into school and society at large. 

To educate pediatricians, nurses and other allied health professionals and the general public about the needs of special kids and optimal ways to meet their physical, emotional, and educational requirements.

To conduct research into the underlying epidemiology, genetics, and cell biology of neurogenetic, neurodevelopmental, and pediatric neurodegenerative diseases.

Faculty​

Dr. Rose-Mary Boustany

Professor, Head of Pediatric Neurology
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology American Board of Human Genetics
Specialty: Pediatric Neurology, Genetic
rb50@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Dr. Simone Khalifeh

Clinical Associate, Pediatric Neurology
Specialty: Pediatric Neurology
sk205@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Dr. Mona Hnaini

Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology
Specialty: Pediatric Neurology, Neuromuscular
mh246@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Dr. Dima Habanjar​​

Clinical Associate, Pediatric Neurology
Specialty: Pediatric Neurology
dh85@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Dr. Laith Haddad

Clinical Instructor, Pediatric Neurology
Specialty: Pediatric Neurology, Epilepsy
dh85@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Sta​​ff

Hala Maacaron
Executive Assistant
hm43@aub.edu.lb
Ext 5640/1

Laudy Masaad
Registered Nurse
lm12@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7455

Frida Araman
Teller
fa24@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Salam Zbib
Teller
sz26@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Therapists 

Sarah Saad
ABA Specialist/Program Coordinator
ss212@aub.edu.lb​

Ramia Nasrallah
Feeding Specialist
rn73@aub.edu.lb

Catherine El Haddad
Speech Therapist
ce50@aub.edu.lb

Krystel Menassa
Speech Therapist
km70@aub.edu.lb

Ghenoie Fersane
Speech Therapist
gf25@aub.edu.lb

Norma Bou Khalil
Physical Therapist
nb19@aub.edu.lb

Racha Kahil
Physical Therapist
rk171@aub.edu.lb

Lara Abbas
Occupational Therapist
la142@aub.edu.lb

Khaled Mneimneh
Occupational Therapist
km71@aub.edu.lb

Oumaima Chami
Occupational Therapist
oc12@aub.edu.lb
Ext 7580

Ghinwa Hammoud
Occupational Therapist
gh58@aub.edu.lb

Clarisse El-Ramy
Psychomotor Therapist
cr22@aub.edu.lb

Sabine Hayek
Psychomotor Therapist
Sh888@aub.edu.lb

Hala El Khoury
Senior ABA Therapist
he89@aub.edu.lb

Noura Al Sahili
Senior ABA Therapist
na290@aub.edu.lb

Joyce Nader
Senior ABA Therapist
jn57@aub.edu.lb

Residents & Fellows 

Dr. Daniel Charouf, PGY6
dc20@aub.edu.lb

Dr. Samah Trad, PGY 5
st77@aub.edu.lb

Dr. Siham Kreidly, PGY 4
sk216@aub.edu.lb

Community Outreach

• School outreach program
• Parent training in ABA
• Shadow teacher training
• Parental guidance for feeding, speech, occupational, psychomotor, and physical therapy
• In-home care/therapies

Patient Care

Our Services

Our clinical caters to the needs of our little patients. We are adjacent to the main hospital. Our waiting area opens onto a specially designed play area for children.  Our facility is easily accessible to all patients.  Our therapy rooms and clinics are especially outfitted with automated examination tables, children's furniture, educational toys, specialized equipment, toys and test batteries used in the assessment and treatment of special needs kids.

AUBMC Special Kids Clinic offers:

• Devoted and highly specialized allied health professionals who will assist pediatric neurologists in the diagnosis, management and care of dually disabled children.
• Dedicated pediatric physical therapists, occupational and psychomotor therapists, and speech and feeding specialists who will provide much needed regular therapy sessions in a multidisciplinary team approach, ensuring the informed, comprehensive and coordinated care of special needs children.
• A  Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) will assess the child and offer the following services: conduct functional assessments and behavior intervention plan; supervise and manage each program; assign a senior behavior therapist to train families, shadow teachers and therapists in the implementation of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles; assign an ABA therapist to the child (ABA therapy is conducted in the child's home or school); and collaborate with all other members of the child's educational environment and offer school inclusion support.
• Initial comprehensive assessments with follow-up for patients living in the vicinity, take-home plans for those living far away, and liaison with specialized individuals through an extensive database of similar services available in remote regions of Lebanon and other countries in the region such as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain and Qatar.
• Regular reevaluations for readjustment of early intervention plans based on individual progress achieved.
• Ultimate integration and mainstreaming into schools with dedicated and specialized services.

Divisions & Services

List of divisions/services of the department

• Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Epilepsy
• General Pediatric Neurology
• Neuromuscular Disorders
• Neurogenetics
• Speech and Feeding Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Psychomotor Therapy
• Applied Behavior Analysis Services

Research

Publications

1. Schulz A., Moussallem  T, Luberto C, Bielawska A, Bielawski J, Jazwinski M, Holthuis M,    Boustany R-M N. CLN9: a regulator of dihydroceramide synthase and dihydroceramide desaturase? Journal of Biological Chemistry, Feb 2006; 281: 2784 – 2794.
2. Teixeira CA. Lin S. Mangas M. Quinta R. Bessa CJ. Ferreira C. Sa Miranda MC. Boustany RM. Ribeiro MG. Gene expression profiling in vLINCL CLN6-deficient fibroblasts: Insights into pathobiology. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 1762(7):637-46, 2006 Jul.
3. Persaud-Sawin DA; Mousallem T; Wang, Ch; Zucker A; Kominami E; Boustany R-M N. Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis: A Common Pathway? Pediatric Research 2007, 61(2):146-152.
4. Kassem Barada, Georges Nemer, Ihab I. El-Hajj, Johnny Touma, Nadim Cortas, Rose-Mary Boustany and Julnar Usta. Early and Severe Liver Disease Associated with Homozygosity for an Exon-7 Mutation, G691R, in Wilson's Disease. Clinical Genetics. 72(3):264-7, 2007 Sep.
5. Boustany R-M Britton JW Parisi JE Keegan BM. A 23 year old with Seizures and Blindness. CPC  Neurology. Jan 1, 2008; 70: 73-78
6. Rusyn E, Mousallem T, Persaud-Sawin D, Miller S, Boustany R-M. CLN3p impacts Galactosylceramide Transport, Raft Morphology and Lipid Content. Ped Res 63(6):625-31, 2008.
7. Vossler, D.G., Conry, J.A., Murphy, J.V., Boustany, R-M.,  Legarda, S., Ruggles, K., Schachter, S., Krishnamurthy, K., Sheth, R., Vazquez, B., Barkley, G., Chugani, H., Duchowny, M., Flamini, R., Sirven, J., Uthman, B., Wheless, J., Asconape, J., Miller, C.S., Pellock, , Van Orman, C., Filloux, F. Zonisamide for the treatment of myoclonic seizures in progressive myoclonic epilepsy: An open-label study. Epileptic Disorders, 2009. 10(1):31-34.  
8. El-Bitar M, Boustany R-M. Common Causes of Uncommon Seizure. Pediatric Neurology, 41 (2):83-87, 2009
9. El-Bitar MK, Muwakkit SA, Abboud MR, Sawaya RA, Boustany R-M. Morvan Syndrome Following B-cell Lymphoma.  J Child Neurol, OnlineFirst, January 28, 2010.
10. Fadi T. Maalouf, M.D., Camelia Hatoum, MS, Mia Atwi, BA, Rose-Mary N. Boustany, M.D. Psychiatric Co-morbidities in Common Genetic Disorders with Physical Disability. Pediatric Health. Volume 4, Number 6, pp. 591-601 2010 (11).
11. Rogers ZR, Wang WC, Luo Z, Iyer RV, Shalaby-Rana E, Dertinger SD, Shulkin BL, Miller JH, Files B, Lane PA, Thompson BW, Miller ST, Ware RE; BABY HUG. Driscoll MC, Speller-Brown B, Martin B, Glass P, Krohn K, Jiles C, Handy J, Tsuchida T, Chang T, Minniti C, O'Connell M, Heath C, Azine R, Darbari D, Washington-Batts L, Carpenter J, Luchtman-Jones L, Burgos A, Ware R, Schultz W, Davis J, Bonner M, Boustany RM, et al. Biomarkers of splenic function in infants with sickle cell anemia: baseline data from the BABY HUG Trial. Blood. 2011 Mar 3;117(9):2614-7.
12. El-Haddad S, Khoury M, Daoud M, Hayat Harati, Mousallem T, Alzate O, Meyer B and Boustany  R-M. CLN5 and CLN8 as Ceramide Synthase Modulators.  Electrophoresis 2012, 33, 3798-3809.
13. Raad M, Tal T, Gul R, Mondello S, Zhang Z, Boustany R-M , Kobaissy F. Neuroproteomics Approach & Neurosystems Biology Analysis: ROCK Inhibitors as Promising Therapeutic Targets in Neurodegeneration & Neurotrauma.  Electrophoresis., Article published online: 26 NOV 2012, DOI: 10.1002/elps.201200470.
14. Razafsha M, Fadlallah B, Boustany R-M and Kobeissy FH. Systems biology, bioinformatics, and biomarkers in neuropsychiatry.  Frontiers in Neuroscience. Published 24 Dec doi: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00187
15. Soueid J and Boustany R-M N. Autism Susceptibility Genes in the Lebanese Population.
16. F H. Kobeissi, A M. Alawieh, S Mondello, R-M Boustany, Mark S Gold.  Biomarkers in Psychiatry: How close are we?  Front. Psychiatry. doi: 3389/fpsyt.2012.00114
17. Rose-Mary Naaman Boustany. Lysosomal storage diseases - the horizon expands. Nature Reviews Neurology Oct;9(10):583-598. (2013).
18. Staropoli JF, Haliw L,  Biswas S, Garrett L, Hilter SM, Becker L,  Skosyrski S, Da Silva-Buttkus P, Calzada-Wack J, Neff F, Rathkolb V, Rozman J, Schrewe A, Adler T, Puk O, Sun M, Favor J, Racz I, Bekeredjian R, Busch R, Graw J, Klingenspor M, Klopstock T, Wolf E,  Wurst W, Zimmer A, Lopez E, Harati H, Hill E, Krause DS, Guide J, Dragileva E, Gale E, Wheeler VC,Boustany R-M, Brown E, Breton S, Ruether K, Gailus-Durner V, Fuchs H, Hrabě de Angelis M, Cotman SL. Large-Scale Phenotyping of an Accurate Genetic Mouse Model of JNCL Identifies Novel Early Pathology Outside the Central Nervous SystemPLOS ONE , 2012, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038310
19. Boustany, Rose-Mary.  Ceramide Center Stage in Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsies.  Ann of Neurol. Vol 76 No. 2 pp 162-164, 2014.
20. Khalifeh Simone, Yassin Walid, Kourtian Silva, Boustany Rose-Mary, “ Autism in Review" serial no.2014/56, ( July Issue 2016, in press, Lebanese Medical Journal).  
21. A functional genome-wide siRNA screen identifies KIAA0586 as mutated in Joubert syndrome. S Roosing, S Kim, M Hofree_, E Scott, B Copeland, M Romani, J L. Silhavy , R O. Rosti, J Schroth, T Mazza_, E Miccinilli, M S. Zaki, K J. Swoboda, J Milisa-Drautz, WB. Dobyns, M Mikati, F İncecik, M Azam, R Borgatti, R Romaniello, R-M Boustany, C L. Clericuzio, S D'Arrigo, I Moroni, EBertini, F Emma, M Steinlin, F Hildebrandt, C A. Johnson, M Freilinger, K K. Vaux, S B. Gabriel, P Aza-Blac, S Heynen-Genel, T Ideker, B D. Dynlacht, JE Lee, E Maria Valente, J Kim, Joseph G. Gleeson (eLife Sciences 2015 May 30;4:e06602. doi: 10.7554/eLife.06602).
22. Monique Chaaya Dr.PH, Dahlia Saab MPH, Fadi Maalouf MD and Rose-Mary Boustany MD.  Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Nurseries in Lebanon: a cross sectional Study (2016), Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders) DOI 10.1007/s10803-015-2590-7.
23. RYR2, PTDSS1 and AREG genes are implicated in a Lebanese population-based study of copy number variation in autism. Jihane Soueid, Silva Kourtian1, Nadine J. Makhoul, Joelle Makoukji, Sariah Haddad, Simona S. Ghanem1, Firas Kobeissy2& Rose-Mary Boustany Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 19088 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep19088
24. Silva Kourtian, Jihane Soueid, Nadine Makhoul, Sariah Haddad, Maria Chahrour, Rose-Mary N. Boustany. Autism Susceptibility Genes in the Lebanese Population and exclusion of a common CNTNAP2 polymorphism as causative for Autism (2016 submitted).
25. Zucker A and Boustany R-M N. Grey Matter Diseases. Pediatric Neurology Principles and Practice, 4^th edition, Mosby/Elsevier,© 2006.  Eds: Swaiman, Ashwal, Ferreiro. Vol II Chapter 59:1315-1344.
26. Mousallam T. and Boustany R-M N. Gangliosidosis and Related Lipid Disorders. Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics 5^th edition, Mosby/Elsevier, © 2006. Eds: David L. Rimoin, J. Michael Connor  Reed E. Pyeritz , Bruce R. Korf, Chapter 109:2449-2485.
27. Boustany R-MN. Sphingolipidoses and the Neuronal Ceroid lipofuscinoses. Garner and Klintworth's Pathobiology of Ocular Disease, a Dynamic Approach. Informa Heathcare, 3rd edition, © 2008. Eds:Gordon K., Klintworth and Alec Garner, Chapter 41: 900-939.
28. Schulz Angela and Boustany Rose-Mary N. Chapter 14:213-231. Genetically unassigned or unusual NCLs. The Neuronal Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease) 2^nd edition. Eds: Mole, Williams, Goebel, DaSilva.  Oxford University Press 2011.  
29. RE Williams, SE Mole, HH Goebel, A Simonati, A Kohlschütter, M Elleder, RM Boustany, Riet Niezen-de Boer, Jonathan W. Mink. Chapter 2: 20-22.  NCL Nomenclature and Classification.  The Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease) 2^nd edition.  Eds: Mole, Williams, Goebel, DaSilva.  Oxford University Press 2011.
30.  Ruth E. Williams, Sara E. Mole, Hans H. Goebel, Alessandro Simonati, Alfried Kohlschuetter, Milan Elleder, Rose-Mary Boustany, Riet Niezen de Boer, Jonathan Mink, Gil Ribeiro, Otto P. van Diggelen. Chapter 3: 24-28. NCL Diagnosis and Algorithms. The Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease) 2^nd edition.  Eds: Mole, Williams, Goebel, DaSilva. 2011 Oxford University Press. 
31. El-Bitar M & Boustany RM. Grey Matter Diseases Chapter 41: 518-543. Swaiman's Pediatric Neurology Principles & Practice, 5^th edition, Elsevier/Saunders, 2012.  Eds: Swaiman, Ashwal, Ferreiro, Schor. Vol II.
32. Rose-Mary Boustany, Ibraheem Shareef, Sariah El-Haddad. Gangliosidosis and Related Lipid Disorders. Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics 6^th edition, Mosby/Elsevier,  Eds: David L. Rimoin , J. Michael Connor  Reed E. Pyeritz , Bruce R. Korf (in press) 2013.
33. Hayat Harati, Jihane Soueid and Rose-Mary Boustany,  Biomarkers of Apoptosis and Inflammation in Neurodegenerative Disorders; Book chapter in Biomarkers of Brain Injury and Neurological Disorders, eds: Kevin K. W. Wang, Zhiqun Zhang, Firas H. Kobeissy. October 15, 2014 by CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781482239829.
34. Hussein Gazalah, Sarah Mantash, Naify Ramadan, Sawsan Al Lafi, Sally El Sitt, Hala Darwish, Hassan Azari, Lama Fawaz, Noël Ghanem, Kazem Zibara, Rose-Mary Boustany, Firas Kobeissy, Jihane Soueid. Postnatal Neural Stem Cells in Treating Traumatic Brain Injury. Chapter 38: pp 689-710. Injury Models of the Central Nervous System.  Book Series:  Methods in Molecular Biology (Humana Press). Eds: Firas H. Kobeissy, Ronald L. Hayes, Stefania Mondello, Edward Dixon, Series editor: John Walker, Ph.D.
35. Joelle Makoukji, Sara Saab, Katia Maalouf, Nadine J. Makhoul, Angelica V. Carmona, Nihar Kinarivala, Paul C. Trippier, Rose-Mary Boustany. Sex-specific gene expression in Cln3^Δex7/8 mouse brain in response to flupirtine (2021).  Biochemistry and Pharmacology Open Access 2021/10.273.
36. Daniel Charouf, Fatima Jaafar, Dima Habanjar, Rose-Mary Boustany. Tango 2 deficiency report and overview. 2022 (under review) Lebanese Medical Journal
37. Nadine J. Makhoul, Zahi Wehbi, Dalia El Hadi,  Bahaa Noureddine, Rose-Mary Boustany, Christiane Al-Haddad. Whole-Exome Screening for Primary Congenital Glaucoma in Lebanon. 2023.  Ophthalmic Genetics - ID NOPG-2023-0005.R1 Published online
38. Downregulation of AKT-mediated p27^Kip1 phosphorylation with shift towards sphingomyelin synthesis in CLN3 disease.  Fatima Bilal; Sara Saab, Jihane Soueid, Zeinab Hamzeh Joelle Makoukji, Lara El-Bazzal, Nadine Makhoul, Rose-Mary Boustany 2023 (Cells in review: Cells ID: cells-2074871).
39. Jihane Souied, Zainab Hamzah, Mariah Chahrour, Rose-Mary Boustany.  A novel autism-associated UBLCP1 mutation impacts proteasome regulation/activity 2023 (in review Translational Psychiatry # 2023TP000273)
40. The Landscape of Autism in Lebanon: Data from 1300 families. Dima Habanjar, Simone Khalifeh, Daniel Charouf, Fatima Jaafar, Makram Obeid, Hani Tamin, Rose-Mary Boustany 2023 (in preparation).

Ongoing Clinical Trials

• ABA, Early Intervention and Autism
• MRI/DTI Changes in Autism
• Visual Tracking in Autism
• Effects of the Live and Recorded Voices of Parents on Preterm Infants' Physiological and Behavioral States

Education

Residency Program:  

Pediatric Neurology (3 years program)

Alumni

Mohamad Bitar, MD

Ibrahim Shareef, MD

Layal Safadieh, MD

Maya Dirani, MD

Simone Khalifeh, MD

Ahmad Hammoud, MD

Chadi Al-Alam, MD

Mona Hnaini, MD

Nadia Koleilat, MD

Laith Haddad, MD

Fatima Jaafar, MD

Dima Habanjar, MD

Location

American University of Beirut
AUBMC Special Kids Clinic
AUBMC Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Center, 2^nd floor 
PO Box: 11-0236
Riad El Solh, 1107 2020
Beirut, Lebanon

Contact Us

Appointment:  +961 1 350 000 Ext 7580
Nurse:               +961 1 350 000 Ext 7455