Three prominent scientists residing in Lebanon, Professor Makhluf J. Haddadin (American University of Beirut), Professor Nesreen Ghaddar (American University of Beirut) and Professor Kamal F. Badr (Lebanese American University) were elected to the Lebanese Academy of Sciences.
Makhluf J. Haddadin is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut. Among his many scientific achievements he is known for having discovered what is now called the “Beirut Reaction”. This reaction solved a key synthetic problem for the pharmaceutical industry and was patented by the AUB. Many of Professor Haddadin's scientific accomplishments were realised under the most difficult circumstances of the war in Lebanon, when obtaining glassware, equipment, chemicals, reagents, and solvents was almost impossible and even dangerous, and when the reparation of broken down instruments took many long months. He was elected to the ASL on June 19, 2009 for `` his seminal discoveries in organic chemistry and his contributions to the synthesis of compounds of medicinal importance."
Nesreen Ghaddar is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the American University of Beirut, where she holds the endowed Qatar Chair in Energy Studies, and is Acting Associate Provost. Her primary research focus is in the area of computational and experimental heat transfer enhancement for efficient cooling, solar energy applications, energy conversion, modeling of moisture and heat transport processes for walking clothed humans, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency. Her work on heat transfer enhancement in oscialltory flows has led to the development of standard anaytical tools in that field. She was elected to the ASL on October 17, 2009 for “ her scientific contributions in the areas of thermal sciences and renewable energy.”
Kamal F. Badr is the Founding Dean of the School of Medicine at the Lebanese American University and previously the chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the American University of Beirut. His long list of scientific discoveries include defining the mechanisms whereby inflammatory injury lead to organ dysfunction in the kidney. His work with Dr. Charles Serhan (discoverer of lipoxins) and Dr. Bengt Samuelsson (Nobel laureate in 1982 for the discovery of leukotrienes and related compounds), is widely recognized as a seminal contribution to the field. The discoveries on endogenous anti-inflammatory pathways in Dr Badr’s lab during the eighties and nineties were a major contributor to the emerging field of what was being rapidly appreciated as a new biology in inflammation, which has been exploited to develop new strategies for treating inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, dermatitis, and atherosclerosis. He was elected to the ASL on October 27, 2009 for "having discovered the pathophysiologic role of eicosanoids in glomerulonephritis, leading to novel therapies for this disease in humans."
The three recently elected ASL academicians, will be formally inducted into the Academy, (along with Dr. Charles Elachi, who was elected to the ASL earlier this year) and decorated with the Academy's offical sash at an official induction ceremony, to be held on November 5, 2009 at the Grand Serail in Beirut. The induction ceremony will be presided over by His Excellency the Prime Minister of Lebanon who is the Honorary President of the ASL.