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“I Feel Like a Bird in a Cage”: A Case Study of War-Related Trauma and Social Determinants in Mental Health of a Syrian Refugee
No full textThis thesis presented a qualitative case study exploring the cumulative impact of war trauma and adverse social determinants on the mental health of a displaced individual in Lebanon, with a focus on both client and therapist experience. The study centered on "MZ," a 37-year-old Syrian refugee whose life was shaped by early exposure to war, ongoing financial hardship, systemic marginalization, and repeated experiences of social humiliation. Through reflexive thematic analysis of therapy session transcripts, clinical notes, and the reflective journal of the Clinical Psychologist in Training (CPT), the study examined how these intersecting factors contributed to MZ’s chronic psychological distress, and how he engaged with culturally sensitive, trauma-informed CBT. The analysis also explored the therapist’s dual positionality and emotional responses within the therapeutic relationship, particularly in the context of shared trauma. The findings highlighted the psychological effects of continuous traumatic stress, the role of structural oppression in shaping trauma responses, and the importance of cultural humility, therapist reflexivity, and contextual attunement in clinical practice with displaced populations
An Exploration of Women’s Career Experiences in Tamale Ghana: The Influence of Career Calling
No full textProject. M.H.R.M. American University of Beirut. Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, 2025.Career calling has received considerable attention from scholars over the years, yet little
is known about how women—especially those in Tamale, Ghana—experience it. This
study explores the career journeys of women in Tamale, shedding light on how cultural
traditions, social support systems, and community stereotypes shape their career choices,
pursuits, and, in some cases, abandonment. Using a qualitative approach, data was
collected through semi-structured interviews with twelve women. The analysis revealed
four key themes: career calling (career calling theory), rational decision-making (rational
choice theory), empowerment (empowerment theory) and advocacy and mentorship
(empowerment theory). The findings highlight the significant challenges women in
Tamale face and contribute to the limited body of literature on career calling in the
Ghanaian context. The study also emphasizes the important role cultural norms and
societal structures play in shaping and supporting women’s career development
Evaluating macrophage activation in response to phage exposure: Implications for phage therapy
No full textBackground: Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and are gaining prominence as therapeutic agents against multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. Beyond their bacteriolytic activity, phages also modulate host immune responses, including macrophage behavior. This study explores both the antimicrobial and immunomodulatory potential of phages, focusing on a novel phage targeting Acinetobacter baumannii. Objectives: This research aimed to (1) isolate and characterize a lytic bacteriophage specific to A. baumannii, and (2) evaluate its immunological effects, alongside other phages, on human macrophages derived from THP-1 monocytes. Methods: Environmental samples were screened to isolate phage AUBFM-AANR01, which underwent characterization including host range testing, one-step growth curve analysis, biofilm disruption assays, and genome sequencing. In parallel, differentiated THP-1 macrophages were exposed to phages to assess cell viability and surface marker expression via flow cytometry. Results: Phage AUBFM-AANR01 exhibited potent lytic activity against A. baumannii, efficient adsorption, moderate burst size, and notable biofilm disruption. Genomic analysis confirmed its placement in the Autographiviridae family without lysogeny or virulence genes. Immunologically, AUBFM-AANR01 suppressed macrophage activation, reducing CD86 and CD68 expression and maintaining cells in a resting or intermediate phenotype. These effects persisted in endotoxin-free preparations, indicating a potential phage-specific immunosuppressive mechanism. Conclusion: AUBFM-AANR01 is a promising candidate for inclusion in phage therapy libraries targeting MDR pathogens. Its immunomodulatory properties suggest potential dual functionality: antimicrobial efficacy and the ability to attenuate macrophage activation. These findings support the integration of phages into immunomodulatory therapeutic strategies
Religious OCD: Intersections of Religion and Mental Health
No full textReligion has been shown to be deeply intertwined with mental health, and yet its
integration into mental health treatment remains limited. This case study examines the
treatment of a client with Religious OCD (ROCD), initially aiming to investigate
challenges in integration of religion into treatment, as well as personal and cultural
factors that may shape said integration and treatment.
Due to the client’s early drop-out from treatment, the study examined personal and
cultural factors contributing to early drop-out in ROCD, through a thematic analysis of
session notes, a transcript of a session recording, case formulation, and my reflective
diary as the therapist.
The study showed that some traits of OCD, such as intolerance of distress, traits of
ROCD such as fear of losing faith, traits of the culture such as misinformation around
mental health, and traits of the client such as confusion about her own subjective
experience, may have contributed to early drop-out. Additionally, the role of the
therapist is undeniable especially in terms of limited experience and potential
countertransference.
This highlights important areas to examine in later studies, and to potentially focus on
in the training of novice therapists
Voice-Based Multi-Factor Authentication Security System
No full textVoice biometrics use the unique vocal attributes of a user to secure physical, virtual,
and online assets. Current voice biometric systems use cloud data centers to pro
cess voice samples received from computers or mobile devices[1]. However, in the
near future, it will be possible to use programmable voice biometric chips that can
leverage pre-trained machine learning models to operate autonomously. Such chips
would make it possible to deploy voice biometric systems more widely to secure
physical assets without the need for internet connections[2].
This project introduces a voice biometric system tailored for home or office security
applications. The system’s core functionality involves detecting and verifying user
voices by processing multiple instances of wake-up words presented as 4-digit pass
codes. Designed to authenticate various users, the project progressed through stages
that encompassed researching and evaluating diverse voice extraction methods. The
optimal method was selected for the system. Subsequently, speaker recognition
and spoken digit classification models were implemented and assessed. The study
achieved significant milestones by rigorously testing, simulating, accelerating, and
deploying the models onto hardware, yielding promising results and advancements
Mechanism of Disease Development in Patient with LRBA Deficiency
No full textLipopolysaccharide-responsive and beige-like anchor (LRBA) deficiency is a primary immunodeficiency disorder characterized by autoimmunity, recurrent infections, and hypogammaglobulinemia. It is caused by mutations in the LRBA gene, which encodes the LRBA protein crucial for the regulation of immune cell activation.
LRBA mediates the cycling of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) from the endosomes to the surface of T cells, where it acts as a competitive inhibitor of the co-activator CD28, resulting in diminished T cells activation. CTLA-4 is constitutively expressed in Tregs, while its expression in T effector (Teff) cells is dependent on their activation. Therefore, in the absence of LRBA, CTLA-4 surface expression is impaired, resulting in the inability of Teff cells to self-regulate, and that of Tregs to inhibit Teff cell activation, predisposing the patients to immunodysregulation.
Using next generation sequencing, we identified a homozygous mutation in LRBA that abolishes protein expression in a female patient. Surprisingly, she presents with an unusually mild clinical course of her disease, which differentiates her from most patients with LRBA deficiency. A detailed immunophenotyping demonstrated normal T cell development but decreased memory B cells percentage and IgG secretion. Consistent with other patients, the expression of CTLA-4 on Tregs was severely diminished in the patient. However, activation of Teff cells was abnormal in the patient and the expression of CTLA-4 on their surface was slightly increased. Since the role of LRBA in CTLA-4 expression was only studied in Tregs, it was believed that regulation of CLTA-4 was also defective in Teff cells from patients with LRBA deficiency. However, our results suggest that the expression of CTLA-4 in Teff cells might not depend entirely on LRBA, and patients with a mild course of the disease might have a compensatory mechanism.
This represents the first study that focuses on CTLA4 expression on Teff cells in patients with LRBA deficiency, and might have uncovered a different mechanism of CTLA-4 regulation in Teff cells that is different than that in Tregs
Three-Dimensional Lab-On-A-Chip Models Of Ductular Organs On Polymeric Scaffolds
No full textThe majority of in vitro tissue models in health and disease have been based on two-dimensional (2D) culture systems, which are an inaccurate representation of the three dimensional (3D) complex in vivo. Three dimensional culture systems are more biomimetic in that the micro-environment can be emulated and cell-cell/cell-matrix interactions are more natural, allowing more realistic analysis of drug response and effectiveness. While research into 3D in vitro models has been ongoing for a couple of decades, some models still lack the exact architecture of the in vivo tissue. Ductular tissues are circular and porous in vivo to enable interaction with the surrounding tissue, yet they are modeled using non-porous rectangular channels. To address this technological gap, our lab previously created a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) with a completely circular ductular channel fabricated from a PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate) body with a sandwiched porous PET (polyethylene terephthalate) membrane to study 3D tissue and organ models. We aimed to develop 3D models of ductular tissues, namely the breast cancer tissue (BCT) and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) using MDA-MB-231 cells, HMT-3522-S1 and T4 cells and ECV-304 cells respectively. We first utilized the LOC previously engineered in our lab and optimized cell attachment using type I collagen and poly-L-lysine, and various seeding densities. In addition, we established a protocol to enable full circumferential cell coverage in the LOC channels by flipping the LOC. Type-I collagen was determined to be the optimal attachment protein with an increase of over 70% relative to controls and p values of less than 0.05. Higher seeding densities resulted in better coverage, and flipping the chip was essential to achieve full coverage of the top and bottom hemichannels, with coverage reaching up to 86% when seeding only the bottom channel, and coverages up to 80% and 70% respectively for upper and bottom channels upon flipping the chip. Second, to address limitations associated with the available LOC design, including meniscus formation in the channel, challenge of imaging the entire channel, the delicate skill required for cell seeding and evaluation of cell’s functionality, we worked towards developing electrospun scaffolds as an alternative model. Electrospinning was used to fabricate ductular scaffolds from natural and synthetic polymers, and their potential as a platform to develop 3D ductular models was evaluated. Cellulose extracted from natural products, and synthetic polymers such as polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polycaprolactone (PCL) were mechanically characterized, tested for biocompatibility and then assessed to produce electrospun scaffolds. The electrospinning parameters of PCL were optimized to get aligned fibers. Cell coverage and viability studies were conducted on the electrospun scaffolds using MDA-MB-231 and ECV-304 cells. Trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements were conducted on PCL scaffolds seeded with ECV-304 cells to evaluate biomimicry of the developed models. The electrospun PCL scaffolds are biocompatible, and the cells achieve full coverage along the duct after 14 days of cell seeding at 20 million cells/mL using the ECV-304 cells, and approximately 70% coverage with the MDA-MB-231 cells. TEER values across the electrospun scaffold increased from 5Ω to 115Ω after 14 days of seeding ECV-304 cells, a significant increase with a p value less than 0.001. The engineered models are expected to enable better prediction of drug efficacy in vivo, since the grown cells and tissues would be interacting and responding to drugs in a more biomimetic manner. The models have a lower cost when compared to animal testing, can reduce the bench to bedside timeframe, as well as provide a platform for modelling various ductular tissues, including glandular ducts and vascular tissue
Divergent Routes to the Top in Early Ottoman Damascus (1550-1650): a Study of al-Ḥasan al-Būrīnī and Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī’s Lives and Careers
No full textThis study explores the divergent career paths of two prominent Damascene scholars during the early Ottoman period: al-Ḥasan al-Būrīnī (1024AH/1615AD) who rose from modest origins through strategic networking with Ottoman officials, and Najm al-Dīn al- Ghazzī (1067AH/1657AD), who inherited a prestigious scholarly lineage but faced challenges in maintaining its prominence. Through comparative analysis of their biographical works and professional trajectories, the research attempts to reveal how Damascus’s intellectual landscape transformed under Ottoman rule, with scholars adapting to new systems of patronage while preserving local scholarly traditions. Būrīnī’s inclusive approach to biographical writing and his reliance on imperial connections contrast with Ghazzī’s conservative defense of family prestige, highlighting the complex connection between social origins and scholarly advancement in this period
A Narrative Review on Gender Pay Gap in Academia: Insights from the MENA Region
No full textProject. M.H.R.M. American University of Beirut. Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, 2025.This present project aims to explore the gender pay gap in Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the Arab world. The
purpose of this study is to identify and understand the root causes and complex factors
that influence gender-based discrimination in pay within academic institutions, which,
despite women’s increased labor participation, continues to widen sharply in the Arab
region and the East. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies that met the inclusion and
exclusion criteria, this narrative review provides a comprehensive examination and
analysis of the gender pay gap and how the interplay of socio-cultural, individual, and
structural factors shapes gender norms and organizational practices that subsequently
affect compensation. Furthermore, it fosters an understanding of female academics'
challenges in their career advancement and professional aspirations. The intersectional
and Human Resources Management (HRM) lenses are employed to dissect the findings
and offer insights into how discriminatory practices persist through pay discretion,
negotiation dynamics, structural and cultural patriarchy systems, and unequal access to
resources. This narrative literature review proposes practical recommendations for HR
practitioners to ensure, enhance, and monitor pay fairness and gender equity in the
workplace through transparency, inclusive leadership, and policy implementation. It also
calls for further research in the region to address the gaps in understanding gendered
experiences in academia across different academic disciplines, institutional types, and
national contexts within the MENA region and to include intersectional perspectives in
future studies