Virtual Visiting Faculty Presentation

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Virtual Visiting Faculty Presentation
Monday, October 5, 2020
11:00 am - 12:00 pm EST

Hala Darwish, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
American University of Beirut

"Protecting and Restoring cognitive function: The role of vitamin D and beyond"

Dr. Hala Darwish is an associate professor at the Hariri School of Nursing, clinical associate at the Department of Psychiatry and Managing Director of the Abou Haidar Neuroscience Institute and Nehme and Therese Tohme Multiple Sclerosis Center and academic associate at the faculty of medicine department of Anatomy, cell biology and physiology (neuroscience) at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She received her undergraduate nursing degree and a teaching diploma in special education from the American University of Beirut. She then completed her masters as an acute care nurse practitioner and a doctorate in bio-behavioral nursing with a neuroscience concentration at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007. Around two years later, she finished her post-doctorate fellowship at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In 2009, she joined the AUB school of nursing as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor's rank in 2016. She leads the newly launched comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation program at the AUB Medical Center. Her clinical specialty area is cognitive neuroscience, and her research focuses on cognitive functions and rehabilitation and factors leading to cognitive impairment and improvement, such as traumatic brain injury, aging, and vitamin D. She is proficient in both basic science and clinical research. She has ongoing research projects investigating cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis and Traumatic Brain Injury. She was the recipient of the research award in nursing by the International Organization of MS Nurses in 2017. She is a certified MS nurse and specialist. She was also the NIH training and individual research grants recipient and has presented her work at national and international forums. Dr. Darwish is a member of the Nursing Honor Society - Sigma Theta Tau and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and other international and national professional organizations. She has authored several research papers and reviews about the topic.