Faculty Profile: Lilian Ghandour

Professor Ghandour

Lillian Ghandour joined the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences as a visiting assistant professor in September 2008, after earning her PhD in epidemiology (2008) from the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Ghandour was the 2008/2009 recipient of the Paul V. Lemkau Scholarship Award for outstanding performance in her doctoral studies, and has been elected by the Alpha Chapter of Johns Hopkins University as a lifetime member of the Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) Academic Honor Society, for excellence in scholarship. On these occasions, Ghandour remarked: “Growing up, my dad echoed the importance of having roots to stay true to where I have come from, and wings to fly to higher grounds, and today I’m thankful to my academic roots at AUB-FHS where I received my BS (1999) and MPH (2001)!”

Ghandour’s academic and professional experiences have trained her as a public health professional, an epidemiologist and an applied biostatistician. Prior to her doctoral studies, she was the co-investigator/coordinator of a United Nations Initiative conducted by the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy, and Applied Care (IDRAAC) to assess the prevailing conditions of drug and alcohol use and misuse in Lebanon. As a PhD student, she was granted two international travel awards (2008, 2007) and a Women and Gender Junior Investigator Award (2007) by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse to disseminate her US and Lebanese research work. Today, she is committed to increasing understanding of the epidemiology of youth and risky behaviors, and to improving the psychosocial health of youth.

Ghandour is currently on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Issam Fares Institute Youth Program, and is actively involved in the coordination of a youth initiative at FHS. Besides her research, she is also highly committed to teaching and believes “a good teacher is one who knows best how to get the message across.”

Ghandour is very happy to be back at AUB, and to be part of the exceptional FHS team working to improve public health in Lebanon and the region. Besides her career, she cherishes her quality time with family and friends, and is often found enjoying the outdoors, traveling, and listening to the healing sounds of a good music concert.