As a result of the ongoing economic collapse in Lebanon, which has been compounded by COVID-19 and the Beirut blast of August 4, 2020, there is a historic and urgent need to support medical graduates from Lebanon and guide them toward successful career paths. The pressing needs resulting from the disasters mentioned above are a serious threat to all aspects of the academic enterprise including education, research, and mentoring. American University of Beirut (AUB) alumni have united since early August 2020 behind an initiative to support and empower medical graduates from across Lebanon with the skills they need to access higher training/education and pave their way to career paths as physician-scientists.

This initiative targets medical graduates in Lebanon who have completed the Scholars in Health Research Program (SHARP) Certificate at AUB. SHARP has graduated eight summer cohorts and a total of 201 trainees since 2013; an additional 36 have been accepted for the SHARP Summer 2021program. Over half of these graduates went on to pursue 1-2-year research fellowships; 10% of them embarked on the SHARP MS path. To date, ten have graduated; an additional eight students are currently enrolled in the SHARP MS program. Trainees are mostly recent medical graduates (87%); other participants are AUB graduates from nursing (5%), health sciences, arts and sciences, and engineering.

The mission of the SHARP Awards Initiative is to create career paths for outstanding medical graduates across Lebanon and expand the pipeline of committed and bright medical graduates who will contribute to capacity building of academic medical centers in the country. The vision is of a Lebanon enriched with internationally competitive teams of Lebanese physician-scientists, at AUB and at other Lebanese academic medical centers.

We are therefore reaching out asking for your support for the SHARP Awards Fund. Donations of any amount to the SHARP Awards Fund are welcome – and will make a profound difference. We have identified three types of awards that would greatly benefit from your support and fulfill the needs of our graduates:

1. SHARP Research Travel Award: will support highly qualified MD graduates who have completed the SHARP Summer Diploma program, enabling them to travel and pursue a 1-2-months elective (research or clinical) in the US. Alternatively, it could support a trainee’s travel to present their work at a national meeting. This award would provide MD graduates with valuable mentorship, a chance to build their networks, training in soft skills, and access to longer-term training outside Lebanon. Funds will be spent on travel and accommodation for a period of up to one month. The support would be $4,000 for one month, or $7,000 for two months.
2. SHARP Research Fellowship Initiative (SHARP RFI) Award: will support ongoing research of SHARP graduates at AUB as part of the SHARP RFI, which was launched as one of the aims of the SHARP NIH FIC competitive renewal in 2020. The RFI provides the necessary infrastructure to accept and review trainees’ research proposals that would be funded on a competitive basis, based on scientific merit and funds available. These awards will support fellows’ stipends for 6-12 months as they complete their projects. SHARP RFI awards will be available to both summer and MS trainees to enrich their experience in research in non-communicable diseases. These awards would complement available NIH funds to expand the number of trainees supported by this initiative. The support would be $1,500/month for 6-12 months depending on the project duration and seniority of the trainee.
3. SHARP HARVARD Research Fellowship Award: will support training for a 1-year research fellowship under the mentorship of an established faculty member at a laboratory at the Harvard Medical School or any of its affiliated hospitals. There is an established network of AUB graduates, successful investigators, and physician-scientists at these prestigious institutions in Boston that will provide the needed research home for SHARP awardees. The support would be $40,000-$45,000/year, all costs included (travel, per diem, housing, medical insurance, and taxation).

   All awards will be granted based on pre-specified criteria of academic excellence, letters of recommendation, and will be vetted by the SHARP Awards Initiative Executive Committee.

We thank you for your support for the SHARP Awards Fund, and for our medical graduates from across Lebanon, at one of the most critical times in our country’s history. Please click on one of the above tabs to support our program either through online donation, wire transfer, or by check.

For more information on different ways to support SHARP Awards Fund, please contact:

1. Mr. Walid Katergi: wk17@aub.edu.lb; +961 71 179 129
2. Mr. Patrick O’Connell: poconnell@aub.edu; + 1-914-724-2084