Dr. Lea Daou | Psychiatry | Best Researcher Award

Resident Physician-Post graduate year II at American University of Beirut Medical Center, Lebanon

Dr. Lea Daou is a dedicated Psychiatry Resident at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), currently in her second postgraduate year (PGY2). She holds a medical degree from the Lebanese University, Faculty of Medical Sciences, where she consistently ranked at the top of her class. Dr. Daou has completed rotations in psychiatry, neurology, internal medicine, and emergency medicine, and has also gained international experience through an observership at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Her academic achievements include passing the USMLE Step 2 with a score of 247 and USMLE Step 1, along with high scores on the IFOM exams. Dr. Daou’s research contributions are substantial, with publications in respected journals such as Academic Psychiatry, Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, L’Encephale, and the Australasian Journal of Dermatology. She has explored topics ranging from the attitudes towards psychiatry among medical students to neurocognitive assessments for Alzheimer’s disease and substance use disorders in the context of socio-economic crises.

Professional Profiles:

Scopus Profile

Education:

Dr. Lea Daou pursued her medical education at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Hadath, Lebanon, from 2015 to 2022. During her time there, she demonstrated exceptional academic performance, ranking 1st in her 2nd and 3rd years of pre-med out of 130 candidates. She continued to excel, ranking 2nd in her first year of medical school (med I) out of 126 candidates and maintaining the 2nd position in her fourth year (med IV) out of 124 candidates. Prior to her medical studies, Dr. Daou completed her Lebanese Baccalaureate in Life Sciences at Sisters of Charity School-Besançon in Baabda, Lebanon, from 2000 to 2015. She graduated with honors, achieving a commendable rating of “very good.” In addition to her academic achievements, she contributed over 100 hours of community service, demonstrating a strong commitment to both her education and her community.

🗣️Professional experience:

Dr. Lea Daou is a Psychiatry Resident at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), currently at the PGY2 level. She has completed rotations in psychiatry, neurology, internal medicine, and emergency medicine. Dr. Daou has also completed an observership at the Cleveland Clinic Ohio in the Psychiatry department, specifically in the Consultation Liaison Service/Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center (ADRC). Prior to her residency, she served as a Med IV intern at Baabda Governmental Hospital in Baabda, Lebanon, and Saint Charles Hospital in Hazmieh, Lebanon. She also completed a Med III internship at Sacre Coeur Hospital in Hazmieh, Lebanon, where she received a certificate for remarkable performances during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Achievements:

Dr. Lea Daou has achieved significant milestones in her academic and professional career. She has successfully passed the USMLE Step 2 with a score of 247 in November 2023 and USMLE Step 1 in April 2022. Additionally, she performed well on the IFOM exams, scoring 84 on IFOM 2 and 79 on IFOM 1 in December 2021. Dr. Daou has contributed to the field of psychiatry through several publications and ongoing research projects. She co-authored a paper on the attitudes towards psychiatry among Lebanese medical students, identifying factors that could foster a more favorable outlook, which was published in Academic Psychiatry in April 2021. As the second and corresponding author, she has been integral to this research. Another significant publication is her narrative review on the potential of neurocognitive assessments as a lower-cost alternative to biomarkers in predicting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), published in Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry in July 2023, where she served as the first author. Furthermore, Dr. Daou led a cross-sectional study on substance use disorder amid the economic crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and social unrest in Beirut, which appeared in L’Encephale in September 2023. She is also the first and corresponding author of this study. Currently, she is working on an exploratory cross-sectional study that started in March 2023, focusing on screening for eating disorders and their correlates in the geriatric Lebanese population. In addition to her work in psychiatry, Dr. Daou has contributed to general medical research. She authored a bibliometric analysis of psoriasis research in the Arab world from 2004 to 2019, published in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology in August 2020. She also co-authored a nationwide study on the epidemiology and incidence of retinoblastoma in the Middle East, published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science in October 2021, and another article on trans-duodenal surgical ampullectomy in January 2022 in the same journal. Dr. Daou’s research on melanoma in the Arab world, a quantitative and qualitative PubMed-based analysis of research output from 2004 to 2019, was published in the International Journal of Dermatology and Venereology in August 2022, where she was the first author. Lastly, she contributed to an article examining the clinical trials landscape for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and its adequacy in developing new treatments, published in ecancermedicalscience in September 2022.

Skills:

Dr. Lea Daou possesses advanced proficiency in French, English, and Arabic. Her linguistic skills enable her to engage with a diverse range of patients and colleagues in her professional environment. Additionally, Dr. Daou has contributed to the academic community by reviewing articles for several esteemed journals, including Academic Psychiatry, Transplant Immunology, African Health Sciences, Journal of Men’s Health, and the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion.

📚Publications :

Can neurocognitive assessment be a lower-cost substitute for biomarkers in predicting progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer’s disease (AD)? A narrative review

Authors: Daou, L., El Alayli, A., Constantinos, F., Dib, G., Barakat, M.

Citations: 1

Year: 2023

Journal: Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, 9, 100069

Substance use disorder in the context of the economic crisis, covid-19 pandemic and social unrest: a cross-sectional study across Beirut (2020–2021) | Trouble addictif dans le contexte de la crise économique, la pandémie covid-19 et la situation sociale: une étude transversale à Beirut (2020–2021)

Authors: Daou, L., Rached, A., Jrad, M., Naja, W., Haddad, R.

Citations: 0

Year: 2023

Journal: Encephale

Perspective on Melanoma in the Arab World: A Quantitative and Qualitative PubMed-Based Analysis of Research Output (2004-2019)

Authors: Daou, L.R., El Hage, S., Bteich, Y.T., Hosri, J.E., Wehbi, J.A.M.

Citations: 0

Year: 2022

Journal: International Journal of Dermatology and Venereology, 5(4), pp. 213–217

Current landscape of clinical trials for HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)

Authors: Bteich, Y.T., Hosri, J.E., Wehbi, J.A., Daou, L.R.

Citations: 2

Year: 2022

Journal: ecancermedicalscience, 16, 1447

Attitudes Towards Psychiatry in Lebanese Medical Students: What Are the Factors that Could Lead to a More Favorable Outlook?

Authors: El Hage, S., Daou, L., Sayde, G., Hallit, S., Salameh, P.

Citations: 3

Year: 2021

Journal: Academic Psychiatry, 45(6), pp. 681–687

Psoriasis: A bibliometric analysis in the Arab World (2004–2019)

Authors: Daou, L., El Hage, S., Wakim, E., Safi, S., Salameh, P.

Citations: 13

Year: 2021

Journal: Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 62(1), pp. e19–e23

Lea Daou | Psychiatry | Best Researcher Award