The Clinical Research Institute (CRI) in collaboration with the Office of Clinical and Translational Research at the Faculty of Medicine (FM) and the AUB Medical Center (AUBMC) held their Sixth Annual Clinical Research Open House on Friday May, 17 2019 in the Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Center (ACC). The Open House highlighted research work conducted by the graduating residents and clinical fellows in the Fellowship and Residency Research Program (FRRP), as well as undergraduate students under the Medical Research Volunteer Program (MRVP), nurses under the Nursing Advancement Program (NAP), and research fellows under the Research Fellowship Program (RFP). The event also included an award ceremony for winners from the FRRP, MRVP, RFP, NAP, and the Faculty Advancement Programs (FAP), which are all run under the umbrella of the CRI.
The Open House started with opening remarks from Dr. Samia Khoury, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Dr. Elie Akl, director of the CRI, and Dr. Hani Tamim, Director of the FRRP, who all expressed their enthusiasm and content for the growth and quality of research at AUBMC. Since its launch in 2011, the FRRP provides AUBMC residents with a structured process to complete a research project at a level to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. So far, 528 residents have enrolled in the FRRP program, 64 of whom have published their work as peer-reviewed papers.
For the first time, the Open House featured two parallel sessions of oral presentations highlighting the work of 17 residents and clinical fellows from different AUBMC departments and of the two winners of 2018 MRVP cycle. A panel of 16 faculty members evaluated the oral presentations and the residents who won the best 3 were:
- 1st Prize: Dr. Joanna Bouez - Advisor: Dr. Sahar Sayyid - Department: Diagnostic Anesthesiology “Pre-procedural Ultrasound versus Conventional Landmark Techniques for Spinal Anesthesia in Elderly Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
- 2nd Prize: Dr. Jeries Kort – Advisor: Dr. Jean El Cheikh – Department: Internal Medicine “Safety and efficacy of 4 cycles of Brentuximab Vedotin as consolidation after autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation in relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s Lymphoma”
- 3rd Prize: Dr. Jana Al Hage – Advisor: Dr. Mazen Kurban – Department: Dermatology “Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in pityriasis rubra pilaris”
In addition, an award for best oral presentation was also granted to one clinical fellow:
- Dr. Elia Malek – Advisor: Dr. Johnny Salameh – Department: Neurology “Ischemic Stroke Characteristics in Lebanon”
Furthermore, the 75 graduating residents and 3 clinical fellows presented their research projects as poster presentations. These posters were evaluated based on scientific content, presentation and design by 36 faculty members. The residents who won the 5 best poster presentations were:
- Dr. Maria Homsi – Advisor: Dr. Roula Hourany – Department: Diagnostic Radiology " Thalamic volume and dimensions on MRI in the pediatric population: Normative values and correlations: (A cross sectional study) "
- Dr. Nadine El Hajj – Advisor: Dr. Gilbert Abou Dagher– Department: Emergency Medicine “Outcomes of patients with systolic heart failure presenting with sepsis to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital: a retrospective chart review study from Lebanon”
- Dr. Salwa Koubaissi- Advisor: Dr. Maya Romani and Dr. Nadim Kanj – Department: Internal Medicine “Evaluation and Challenges of a Smoking Cessation Program (SCP): The Experience of a referral center in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)”
- Dr. Rayan Ghanem – Advisor: Dr. Mona Nabulsi – Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology “Breastfeeding success with the use of the inverted syringe technique for management of inverted nipples in lactating women: a randomized control trial”
- Dr. Evelyne Baroud – Advisor: Dr. Fadi Maalouf – Department: Psychiatry “Suicidality Among Lebanese Adolescents: Prevalence, Predictors and Service Utilization”
In addition, an award for best poster award was also granted to one clinical fellow:
- Dr. Dalia Khalifeh – Advisor: Dr. Johnny Awwad – Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology “Female age as a predictor of pregnancy outcomes in Poor Ovarian Responder patients: A Prospective Cohort study”
To acknowledge the contribution of the advisors and coordinators, the following awards were presented:
- Advisor of The Year Awards which was presented to three faculty members: Dr. Mona Nabulsi from the department of Pediatrics, Dr. Carine Zeeni from the department of Anesthesiology and Dr. Antoine Abu-Musa from the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for their generous commitment, support and inspiration to our residents;
- Distinguished FRRP Department Representative award which was presented to Dr. Jumana Antoun from the department of Family Medicine as a token of appreciation for her dedicated work and commitment to FRRP;
- Department Coordinator of The Year Award which was presented to Ms. Fatima Msheik El-Khoury form the department of Anesthesiology for her outstanding support, dedication and commitment to excellence.
Afterwards, Dr. Bilal Kaafarani, co-director of the MRVP introduced the MRVP program. Under the MRVP, AUB undergraduate students are matched with researchers from AUB FM to work on medical research projects on a volunteer basis. The MRVP was founded in May 2014 and is now under the umbrella of CRI where Dr. Hani Tamim serves as co-director. So far, 601 undergraduate students have worked with 89 researchers from the AUB FM on 273 projects and some of these students have already co-authored publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. Each year, the Ibrahim and Loulu Durr Endowed MRVP awards are given to two students enrolled in MRVP who have demonstrated outstanding medical research capabilities, where one male and one female receive 1,000$ each. The winners of the 2019 awards were announced:
- Miss. Batoul Assi, who is majoring in Biology (working on the MRVP project with Dr. Martine El-Bejjani in the Department of Internal Medicine)
- Mr. Ricardo Nehme who is also majoring in Biology (working on the MRVP project with Dr. Samar Hajj in the Department of Health Management & Policy)
Moreover, the 2018 award winners delivered oral presentations during the event:
- Miss Lara Chaaban on “Kir Channel: A Crude Pore with an Exciting Role in Early Vascular Dysfunction of Metabolic Disease”. Lara was senior Nutrition & Dietetics student when she worked with Dr. Ahmed Fawzi El-Yazbi from the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology on this project, who is currently a Med I student at AUBMC.
- Mr. Bashar Hassan on “Comparing the Oncologic Outcomes of Partial Mastectomy for Breast Cancer Patients performed either Upfront or following Preoperative Systemic Chemotherapy: a Matched Retrospective Cohort”. Bashar was senior Biology student when he worked with Dr. Eman Sbaity from the department of Surgery on this project and is now Med I student at AUBMC.
In addition, two distinguished students, Dr. Jessica Atieh and Dr. Michael Dagher, former graduates of the MRVP, were awarded recognition prizes for their outstanding engagement in structuring and advancing the MRVP.
Furthermore, 4 research fellows under the RFP presented their research projects as poster presentations. A poster award was presented to one research fellow:
- Dr. Marwa Baalbaki – Advisor: Dr. Samia Khoury – Department: Nehme and Therese Tohme Multiple Sclerosis Center “Correlation between Retinal Optical Coherence Tomography Measures and Cognitive/Physical Disability in Patients with Early Multiple Sclerosis: a prospective study”.
Finally, awards were distributed to the other programs as follows: From the Faculty Advancement Program (FAP) 3 prizes were awarded to the best research proposals:
- Dr. Hana Itani represented by Dr. Ramzi Sabra– Department: Pharmacology and Toxicology “Novel Immune Salt-Sensing Mechanisms in Hypertension”
- Dr. Olivia Shabb– Department: Psychiatry “Anxiety, depression, and disordered eating in pregnant Lebanese women: prevalence and course”
- Dr. Rana Yamout– Advisor: Dr. Arafat Tfayli – Department: Anesthesiology “Where Do Seriously Ill Patients Prefer to Die and Why: A cross-sectional multicenter study”
The FAP participants unanimously expressed that the top feature of the program were the group sessions with knowledgeable and generous advisors. To acknowledge their invaluable contribution, the following awards were presented to two FAP advisors:
- Dr. Suzane Dhaini - Hariri School of Nursing
- Dr. Wael Shamseddine - Department of Psychiatry
From the Nursing Advancement Program (NAP) 3 prizes were given to the best research proposals as follows:
- - Ms. Nour Takkoush– Advisor: Dr. Angela Massouh – Unit: Bone Marrow Transplant “Assessing the need for psychosocial interventions to support caregivers of hematopoietic stem cells transplant patients in Lebanon”
- - Ms. Salma Lameh– Advisor: Dr. Lina Badr – Unit: Obstetrics and Gynecology Inpatient “The Psychological Impact of Infertility on Couples”
- - Ms. Houry Nazaretian– Advisor: Dr. Angela Massouh – Unit: Pediatric Intensive Care “Improving Nurse-Parent Relationship and Parent Perceived Stress in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit”
Finally, Dr. Lina Badr presented a plaque to Dr. Angela Massouh from the Hariri School of Nursing to acknowledge her contribution to the NAP as an advisor.