Please join us next Wednesday:

Population Mental Health Forum Series

Disasters, Brain Health, and Resilience: The Case of Lebanon

Wednesday, Dec 15, 2021

11:00 am – 12:00 pm EST

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This presentation will go over the multiple disastrous situations Lebanon has faced in the past decade: Syrian Refugee Crisis (on top of Palestinian and Iraqi crisis), unprecedented economic hardship, COVID19 pandemic and the Port blast. It will navigate the programs we continue to offer in this tumultuous time with emphasis on brain health and resilience facing adverse events and trauma. The event will conclude with a Q&A session with attendees.

Speakers:

Dr. Zeina N. Chemali, MD, MPH, was born in Beirut, Lebanon and attended American University of Beirut/Lebanese University to complete her medical education (1983-1991). She is double boarded in Neurology and Psychiatry after an extensive training at Harvard hospitals in Boston, MA. Currently, Dr. Chemali is the Director of Neuropsychiatry Clinics and Fellowship, Unit Chief at the McCance Center for Brain health at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical interests and expertise revolve around the practice of neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology and brain health with a special interest in Early Onset Dementia.

Dr. Chemali has conducted fieldwork in under-privileged worldwide regions, particularly in East Africa, Uganda, and Lebanon. She advanced brain health training to mid-level professionals in Ethiopia, established a dual neurology-psychiatry curriculum for the University of Hargeisa, ran capacity building programs in aging and Alzheimer’s disease in Lebanon, worked in the humanitarian field following the Syrian refugee crisis. She continues to mentor research students at Mbarara University in Uganda as well as Neurology and Psychiatry residents in Lebanon and Brazil. Under her mentorship, more than 40 scholars graduated in Neuropsychiatry-Behavioral Neurology-Neurosciences. Dr. Chemali is the recipient of multiple awards including Anne Klibanski visiting Scholar Award, Anne B. Young Diversity Scholar Award, Best Preventive Elderly Care in Third Millennium, Partners in Excellence in Clinical Care and BWPO Community Service Award for her work in promoting mental health, poverty, and gender equity globally. Dr. Chemali is published extensively in the field of Neuropsychiatry as well as Global Health work and is constantly invited to present her work in prestigious colleges and conferences worldwide.

Dr. Kristina J. Korte, PhD, is an Instructor and licensed clinical psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a Research Associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public health. Dr. Korte’s clinical work and research focusing on understanding the nature and treatment of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), and co-occurring substance use disorders. The overarching aim of Dr. Korte’s research is to reduce the global burden of these disorders through the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for use in low and middle-income countries. Dr. Korte is currently a Fulbright U.S. Scholar based at Stellenbosch University and was recently awarded a K01 International Research Scientist Development Award (IRSDA) from the National Institute of Health’s Fogarty International Center for her work on the adaptation of a brief transdiagnostic treatment for anxiety disorders and PTSD for use in South African primary care clinics.