7. Project Summary/Abstract
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, especially its LMIC countries, faces a myriad of
environmental and occupational health (EOH) challenges in a context of dynamic political changes, multiple
concurrent humanitarian crises, weak regulations, and limited investment in EOH research and research
capacity building. The American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon (U01 application) is partnering with Yale
University (U2R application) in collaboration with the University of Iowa in the US to establish a Global
Environmental and Occupational Health Research and Training Hub for the MENA region (GEOHealth MENA),
where AUB serves as the Hub Institution and one university in each of Egypt and Sudan will serve as Spoke
Institutions. The aim of GEOHealth MENA is to build and strengthen EOH research capacity in the context of
disadvantaged populations, at AUB, sister institutions, and relevant NGOs in Lebanon and the MENA region.
The focus of the current project will be agricultural health and safety with an emphasis on exposure to pesticide
among refugee populations. The MENA region hosts more than 50% of the world’s total population of internally
displaced persons and refugees. The U01 application proposes to evaluate the pathways of pesticide exposure
among Syrian refugee agricultural workers, investigate the association of such exposure with neurobehavioral
outcomes, and explore the role of social factors in this association. Findings will inform policy and practice
guidelines that can improve the health of all agricultural workers. The multidisciplinary research team at AUB
will build on a strong track record of studying refugee and migrant populations and translating evidence into
policy. Yale and the University of Iowa will provide support to the AUB team in exposure assessment and the
assessment of neurobehavioral performance. The U2R will provide full scholarships to 3 highly qualified and
committed applicants (one from each of Egypt, Lebanon, and Sudan) to pursue a PhD in Epidemiology at
AUB’s Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) focusing on EOH issues. The U2R will also provide full scholarships
to 4 highly qualified and committed MDs (two from Lebanon and one from each of Egypt and Sudan) to pursue
an MPH at AUB’s FHS and a fellowship in Occupational Medicine at AUB’s Faculty of Medicine. The 7 trainees
will spend 3 months (MD/MPH) or 6 months (PhD) during their study period at Yale and Iowa for advanced and
relevant research training and training on agricultural safety and health (AgS&H). Additionally, the U01/U2R
applications will offer short-term research and AgS&H training to the community.