Miguel Abboud
American University of Beirut
Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Lebanon
Miguel R. Abboud earned his medical degree at the American University of Beirut in
Lebanon in 1982. In 1984, he completed his residency in the Department of Pediatrics,
also at the American University of Beirut. He was a Fellow in the Department of
Pediatrics at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The New York Hospital ,
Cornell University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA, from 1984 to 1987, followed by
his appointment as Chief Fellow in the same department from 1987 to 1988. Starting as
an Assistant Professor in 1989, he was appointed Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical
University of South Carolina in Charleston in 2001. At MUSC, Dr. Abboud’s research
focused on sickle cell disease. He authored a number of studies on this disease and was
an original member of the steering committees for the STOP I and STOP II trials. He
also worked extensively on the pathophysiology of the disease and the development of
new modalities of therapy such as hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
In August 2002, he became the first Medical Director of the Children’s Cancer Center of
Lebanon (CCCL) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon as well
as and Professor of Pediatrics at AUB. During his tenure, he established highly visible
and successful bone marrow transplant, limb salvage surgery, and sickle cell disease
programs as well as an acute lymphoblastic leukemia research protocol in collaboration
with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Division at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in
Memphis, TN, USA. The sickle cell program at AUBMC has grown and now provides
comprehensive service to over 300 children and adolescents with this disease. The
program research focuses now on pulmonary hypertension and the vasculopathy in
sickle cell disease. In February 2011, he was appointed as Chairman of the Department
of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at AUBMC. He was appointed a tenured
professor at AUB in 2018 upon the reinstitution of tenure at the university.
Dr Abboud has published more than 150 publications in journals such as the American
Journal of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant, New England Journal of Medicine,
Pediatrics, Blood, and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Dr Abboud
is also a member of the editorial board of Blood Cells Molecules and Disease and well
as being in the Board of Reviewers of Transplantation. He is also the regional associate
editor for Cancer and Regional Editor for Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine, in addition to being a reviewer for Pediatric Blood Cancer, American Journal of
Hematology, Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, Pediatric Hematology
Oncology, Cancer, Blood, Circulation the Lancet and the New England Journal of
Medicine. During his professional career, Dr Abboud has been accorded numerous
awards and honors.