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Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107 2020
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Skip Navigation LinksAUBMC > Patient Care > Specialized Clinical Programs and Services > Center for Infectious Diseases Research
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Center for Infectious Diseases Research

Overview

Infectious diseases remain among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Middle East, with diseases such as pneumonia, gastroenteritis, malaria, and tuberculosis presenting a major burden in our region. The Center for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) prom otes research in basic, translational, and clinical aspects of infectious diseases. The aim of the CIDR laboratory is to function as a national and regional reference laboratory with emphasis on the diagnosis of endemic and epidemic infectious diseases relevant to our region.

 

Objectives
  • Conduct and support research into the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases particularly those relevant to the Middle East
  • Enhance the health of the population by promoting excellence in diagnosis, management and prevention of infectious diseases through clinical care, education, research and advocacy.

  • Become a center of excellence in infectious disease related domains to improve clinical care, with the provision of evidence-based, cost-efficient, and comprehensive workup in order to achieve the best clinical outcomes.

Existing infrastructure
  • The AUB-FM (Faculty of Medicine) has one of the best clinical services in infectious diseases, adult and pediatric, in the region, with referrals from all parts of Lebanon and neighboring countries.
  • Most attending faculty of both divisions of infectious diseases, adult and pediatric, are certified by the respective specialty American Boards and have a variety of interests in clinical and basic research.

  • AUBMC has an excellent Clinical Microbiology Laboratory and a Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory with several infectious disease applications; as well as a renowned basic science department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology.

  • Over the past decade, a large number of single, multicenter, and international clinical trials have been conducted at AUBMC and resulted in numerous publications on antimicrobials, vaccines, and other research topics in infectious diseases.
 
 
Center Equipment

The CIDR laboratory has been recently renovated as part of the DTS basic sciences building renovation and is furnished with the following equipment: IDR CHEF-MAPPER for Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis along with a Gel-doc apparatus, a dual head thermal cycler, a real time PCR machine, a Luminex apparatus, egg incubators, a dedicated BSL-2 hood, and other support equipment. The recently completed P3 facility is located next door.
  • Use the links below to request/reserve equipment at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory
    • CIDR Luminex™ workstation Bio-Plex 200, Bio-Rad
    • CIDR PCR Thermocycler C1000 Thermal Cycler Bio-Rad
    • CIDR Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis Chef Mapper, Bio-Rad
    • CIDR Real-Time PCR System C1000 Thermal Cycler Bio-Rad

Accomplishments
  • Establishment of the Lebanese Inter-hospital Pneumococcal Surveillance Program (LIPSP) , the first of its kind in Lebanon and the Levant, with funding from several agencies and in collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Health
    Click here to view the CRF
​​Click to view LIPSP newsletters from previous years: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 & 2013
  • Establishment of the first Primary Immunodeficiency Program in the country with funding and collaboration with the Dubai-Harvard Foundation for Research
  • Establishment of the first National Program of Newborn Screening for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (NaSPID) under the patronage of the Ministry of Health and in collaboration with "iFight PID fund at AUBMC"
    • Use the links below for further info
    1. Launching ceremony at the Ministry of Health, 19 January 2018
    2. Educational video: "How to collect blood spot samples." 
    3. NaSPID brochures and posters
    4. Conditions screened by TREC assay

  • Click the following link to watch the National Program of Neonatal Screening for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases video

  • Click the following  link to read about the Launching of the National Program of Neonatal Screening for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases.

  • Click the following links to view the blood specimen sheet: English , Arabic .

Current Studies
  • Surveillance of Respiratory Virus Infections among Pediatric Cancer Patients at the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon
  • Prevalence and Risk Factors for Prolonged Postoperative Fever in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Cardiovascular Surgery with Pulmonary Conduit Insertion

  • Viral Infections in Patients at the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon

  • Estimation of the disease burden and prevalent genotypes of rotavirus (RV) causing gastroenteritis (GE) in children < 5 years of age in Lebanon based on a sentinel hospital-based surveillance program

  • Prevalence and molecular characterization of Astrovirus causing gastroenteritis in children <5 years of age in Lebanon: a hospital-based surveillance program ( N.B. modified to include screening for Norovirus and Sapovirus)

  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection In Lebanon tertiary medical center :a 10 years’ experience

  • Epidemiologic Surveillance of Influenza Infections in Lebanon

  • Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Laboratory-confirmed Influenza infection in Lebanon from 2008 till 2016: A single tertiary center experience 

  • A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-part study of orally administered AK0529 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and antiviral effect of single and multiple dosing in hospitalized infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection

  • A phase IIIb, open, multi-country, controlled, randomized study to demonstrate the immunogenicity and safety of GSK Biologicals' meningococcal conjugate vaccine, MenACWY-TT (GSK 134612) in healthy infants, given on a 3+1 primary and booster (2, 4, 6 and 15-18 months of age), a 1+1 primary and booster (6 and 15-18 months of age) or as a single dose at 15-18 months of age

  • Resistant gram-negative bacterial infections in children and adolescents: incidence, epidemiology and associated risk factors

  • Severe Acute Respiratory Infection SARI surveillance

To view a list of CIDR publications, click here.

 

 

Faculty Members:

   Faculty of Medicine

Na me

Title

Specialty

Email

Telephone

Ghassan Dbaibo M.D.

Professor, Director of CIDR

Pediatric ID

gdbaibo@aub.edu.lb

5540-5752

Ghassan Matar PhD

Professor, Laboratory Director of CIDR

Medical and Molecular Microbiology

gmatar@aub.edu.lb

5128- 5134

George Araj PhD

Professor, Director of clinical Microbiology

Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology

garaj@aub.edu.lb

5215

Soha Kanj Sharara M.D.

Professor

Internal Medecine, Adult ID

sk11@aub.edu.lb

5381

Rami Mahfouz M.D., PhD

Associate Professor

Clinical Pathology, Molecular Diagnostics

rm11@aub.edu.lb

5167

Zeina Kanafani  M.D.

Associate Professor

Internal Medecine, Adult ID

zk10@aub.edu.lb

5321

Rima Hanna Wakim M.D.

Assistant Professor

Pediatric ID

rh08@aub.edu.lb

5737

Ramia Zakhour M.D.    Clinical Instructor Pediatric ID     rz17@aub.edu.lb       6486

Hasan Zaraket PhD

Assistant Professor

Virology, Community Disease Control

hz34@aub.edu.lb

7712

Ghassan Awar M.D.

Assistant Professor

Internal Medecine, Adult ID

ga03@aub.edu.lb

5367

Nesrine Rizk M.D.

Instructor Of Clinical Specialty

Internal Medecine, Adult ID

nr00@aub.edu.lb

6715

Michel Masaad PH.D.   Assistant Professor  Experimental Pathology, Immunology and  Microbiology ​ ​
 

  Faculty of Health Sciences

Name

Title

Specialty

Email

Telephone

Salim Adib DrPH

M.D, Dr. PH, Senior Lecturer

Epidemiology & Public Health

sa193@aub.edu.lb

4637

Sami Ramia PhD, FRCPath Professor Medical&Public Health Microbiology
sramia@aub.edu.lb
4689

Mey Jurdi PhD

Professor , Dpt of Enviromental Health

Basic Medical Science

mjurdi@aub.edu.lb

4624

Nada Melhem PhD

Assistant Professor

Microbiology & Immunology,ID

melhemn@aub.edu.lb

4699




Name Title Email Telephone
Aia Assaf Casals M.D. Pediatric ID/ Postdoctoral research fellow aassafcasals@gmail.com 5773
Rouba Shaker M.D. Pediatric ID fellow rc30@aub.edu.lb 5732
Yolla Youssef M.D. Pediatric ID fellow yy06@aub.edu.lb 5732
Danielle Fayad M.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow dnf02@mail.aub.edu 5732
Imad Isaac M.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow imaddd274@gmail.com 5732
Mirelle Lteif BSN Research Coordinator ml12@aub.edu.lb 5752
Lina Reslan PH.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate lr13@aub.edu.lb 4890
Amjad Haidar BSc Lab Manager  ah107@aub.edu.lb 4890
Sarah Khafaja M.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow sk150@aub.edu.lb 5752
 

Location:

The Center for Infectious Diseases Research is located in the heart of the city of Beirut in one of the most prestigious learning institutions in the Middle East at American University of Beirut.

  • Center for Infectious Diseases Research office: AUBMC, Department of Peditarics and Adolescent Medicine, Phase 1, 6th floor, room W616

  • Center for Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory: Main lab for diagnostic and research testing, AUB DTS building (medical gate), basement, room 132

Contact us:
Telephone: 00961-1-350 000 ext 5752 for office, ext 4880 for lab
Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Contact us:

Telephone:

00961-1-350 000 ext 5752

Office: ext 4880

Lab: Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm​​​

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