Open minds

Times of great uncertainty do not preclude making advances in the health Sciences, either by or discovery of novel genes or development of effective treatments for neurogenetic disorders affecting our children. The Neurogenetics Team continues, with very generous and visionary support by OpenMinds, to deliver progress in investigation of causes and treatments for developmental and neurogenetic disorders in children. The research projects resulted in 10 publications in international journals  and in 8 presentations locally and internationally.  

2019 PUBLICATIONS in International Journals

Sally El-Sitt, PhD, Jihane Soueid, PhD, Katia Maalouf, PhD, Nadine Makhoul, Jamal Al Ali, MD, Joelle Makoukji, PhD, Bilal Asser, MS, Daniel Daou, BS, Hayat Harati, PhD, Rose-Mary Boustany, MD. Exogenous Galactosylceramide as Potential Treatment for CLN3 Disease.  Ann of Neurol; Nov 2019
Stephanie Saaybi, Natally Al-Arab, Salem Hannoun, Maritherese Saade, Rayyan Tutunji, Carine Zeeni , Rolla Shbarou, Roula Hourani and Rose-Mary Boustany. Pre- and Post-therapy Assessment of Clinical Outcomes and White Matter Integrity in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Pilot Study. Frontiers in Neurology Aug 19, 2019
Al-Rayess, Heba; Lakissian, Zavi; Boustany, Rose-Mary; Sharara-Chami, Rana.  A “Snap” of Portable Media Use among Children 2 Years and Younger in a Developing Country. Health and Primary Care. OAT. 2019
 Hoyek, Rose-Mary Boustany, Christiane El-Haddad. "Eye Tracking Abnormalities in Strabismic School-Aged Children and Effect on School Performance". (2019) British EYE 2019 (in review).  Manuscript ID EYE-18-969.
Christiane Al-Haddad; Stephanie Hoyeck; Karine Ismail; Maamoun Abdul-Fattah; Larissa Smeets; Mona Krayem; Marie-Therese Saade; Chadi Alam; Rolla Shbarou and Rose-Mary Boustany. Christiane Al-Haddad; Stephanie Hoyeck; Karine Ismail; Maamoun Abdul-Fattah; Larissa Smeets; Mona Krayem; Marie-Therese Saade; Chadi Alam; Rolla Shbarou and Rose-Mary Boustany. Paradigm for Eye Tracking and Vision Screening in Autism.  Autism Research  (2019). (in review).
Sally El-Sitt, Jihane Soueid, Jamal Al Ali, Joelle Makoukji, Nadine J. Makhoul, Hayat Harati, Rose-Mary Boustany. Developmental comparison of ceramide in wild-type and Cln3Δex7/8 mouse brain & sera. Frontiers in Neurology (2019). 10:128
Sally El-Sitt, Joelle Makoukji, Nadine J. Makhoul, Jihane Soueid, Humam Kadara, Rose-Mary Boustany. Galactosyl-ceramide impact on male & female Cln3Δex7/8 mouse brain gene expression. Sci. Reports (2019). In review. 
Shbarou Rolla M, Boustany Rose-Mary, Daher Rose T, Pakdel Parisa El Eid Rozana, Noureddine Abir, Karam Pascale E. Experience with non-ketotic hyperglycinemia in a developing country: 14-year retrospective study. Neuropediatrics,  2019 Elias Salameh, Mona Krayem, Maritherese Saade, Reem Yassin, Serene Anouti, Rose-Mary Boustany. Impact of screen time on severity of symptoms in autism spectrum disorders.  (2019) submitted to JADD.
Zainab Awada, Reem Akika, Rihab Nasr, Arafat Tfayli, Rose-Mary Boustany, Joelle Makoukji, Hani Tamim, Akram Ghantous, Nathalie K. Zgheib. Short Relative Telomere Length in Peripheral Blood and Tissues Is Associated with Breast Cancer. (2019) Clinical and Translational Oncology (in review).


2019 PRESENTATIONS IN LEBANON/ EUROPE/USA

St Georges Hospital, Balamand Medical School: Idraac: mental disorders Conference (Jan 28, 2019)
-Genetics of autism and other stories. Closed Roundtable on BIOBANKING IN LEBANON: Bio -banking in Research and Medicine

Duke University Medical Center- March 2-5, 2019
-Duke Pediatric Neurology & Developmental Medicine Update ‘From patient to gene & molecular therapies’ (March 2, 2019)
-Duke Division of Pediatric Neurology Presentation: Autism in Lebanon
- (March 3, 2019) -Duke Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds: Galactosylceramide to treat CLN3 disease (March 5, 2019)

American University of Beirut

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-AUBMC 16th Pediatrics Review Course: Neurogenetics and Genomics in Pediatrics (June 29, 2019)
-Pompe Disease Conference AUBMC/Sanofi at AUBMC: Sep 21, 2019
-Plenary speaker: “Trauma, Stress, and Neurodegeneration” IBRO school, Beirut, Lebanon.  NOVEL FINDINGS IN AUTISM IN LEBANON.(October 4, 2019).  Characterization of the UBLCP1 gene; Flupirtine Derivatives in the CLN3 mouse (Oct 7, 2019)

Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development (Kingdom of the Netherlands), Amsterdam:  Level Segment of Conference on Mental Health and Psychosocial Development,. AUTISM AND SPECIAL NEEDS IN LEBANON.
In Memoriam: GR DeLong, MD, The) Oct 19, 2019. 1st Global Pediatric Neurologist: A Eulogy.  Exeter, New Hampshire
Society for Neuroscience (Chicago, Il)_  Oct 20-23.  Posters presented on the UBLCP1 gene and Flupirtine Derivatives in CLN3.