Haigazian University

Sima A. Hamadeh, Ph.D.

Dr. Sima Hamadeh
Full Professor
Department of Nutrition Sciences and Dietetics
Coordinator of Nutrition Sciences & Dietetics program
Office: MEH 707
Tel. ext.: 392
Sima.hamadeh@haigazian.edu.lb


BIO

Professor Sima A. Hamadeh is a Full Professor of Public Health Nutrition and the Program Coordinator of Nutrition and Dietetic Sciences at Haigazian University, and a senior lecturer in the Nutrition Master programs at Saint Joseph University in Lebanon.

She received her master’s degree in Community Nutrition and Ph.D. in Public Health Nutrition from University of Montreal-Canada. Her M.Sc. work was awarded the “Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence” in 2009. Her Ph.D. work was honored by Canadian experts in 2013 and awarded the “Prix d’Excellence Scientifique Franco-Libanais” from the Société des Membres de la Légion d’Honneur au Liban & the French Embassy in Lebanon in 2015. Her outstanding postdoctoral studies on “Science Journalism” at Northwestern University were notably considered by TED team in US and TED in Arabic team to join them as a science curator in 2023.

Prof. Hamadeh main research interest deals with public health nutrition matters and science communication/journalism such as: public health promotion, food systems and sustainability; nutrition in media and communication, nutrition economics and consumerism, food citizenship, nutrition psychology, digital food and sports marketing, digital and media health literacy, and their related policies. She published several peer-reviewed papers, and scientific blogs and audiovisuals exploring these topics from different perspectives, and she designed various significant comprehensive theoretical frameworks to consolidate her research work.

Prof. Hamadeh works closely with different national and international ministries and organizations on projects, seminars, research, and community programs. She hosted and was hosted on many panel discussions and podcasts, and has provided many talks and keynote speeches in national and international scientific congresses. She was honored and awarded special prizes for her outstanding papers in Europe, Canada, Gulf countries, and in Lebanon. She is also a member of several executive international scientific committees and associations and a reviewer for distinguished scientific peer-reviewed journals and for health short movie applications to the annual American Public Health Association conference.

Most recently, Prof. Hamadeh joined the new “Mentoring Program in Communication and Marketing” and the “Reviewer Committee for the National Physical Education Standards” of the Society of Health & Physical Educators- USA. She is also a mentor in the American Public Health Association for health promotion, communication, and policies. In June 23 she was selected by TUFTS University as an expert panelist to engage in the consensus-building process of their “Leading A Sustainability Transition in Nutrition Globally-LASTING” project. In July 24 she was appointed by Emerald Publishing-UK as an Editor-in-Chief for a new Gold Open Scientific Journal “Global Smart Food Systems”. Finally, Prof. Hamadeh won the election for Food and Nutrition Section governing councilor at American Public Health Association “APHA” for the upcoming 3 years.

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

Public Health Nutrition; Food systems and sustainability; Science Communication and Journalism; Health Promotion and Education; Food Choices and Motivations, Food and Sports Marketing; Media coverage of Nutrition; Nutrition economics and Consumerism; Digital and Media Health Literacy Nutrition and Sports policies.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS  

  • Hamadeh, S. Smart food and sports policies in the digital Age: Re-defining nutrition economic, education design and Governance. Chapter IN: Informatics for Digital Education (Salman et al., Eds). March 2024.
  • Hamadeh, S. Are artificial intelligence and co-active life coaching the future designers of nutrition and fitness matters? Journal of Autonomous Intelligence; 6(2). August 2023.
  • Hamadeh, S. How Gen Z can improve community literacy about the 17SDGs? A realistic approach to construct a futuristic change-maker paradigm. Green Technology, Resilience and Sustainability Journal; 2(2). May 2022.
  • Hamadeh, S. Roadmap for future food systems and smart cities: Making the ecosystem connections and policies. Chapter IN: Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Deserts (Heggy et al., Eds). September 2021.
  • Hamadeh, S. E-Food commerce, nutrition economics and consumer behavior: Before and after COVID-19. British Journal of marketing Studies; 9(1). March 2021.
  • Hamadeh, S. The new encyclopedia of nutrition: A reality after COVID-19. Advances in Nutrition and Food Science; October 2020.
  • Hamadeh, S. The social psychology of food and body image: Exploring new dimensions in public health policies in MENA. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health Journal- Special Review Issue 1. September 2019.
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author), Marquis, M and Estepan S. of the article: Ten-point vision strategies to offer a menu of options to promote healthy eating and active living in Lebanon: Between facts and stories. Clinical Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics; vol2 (1). January 2019.
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author) and Marquis, M. (2nd Author) of the article: Linked models and theories: A tool for school nutrition policies development. British Food Journal-Special Issue: “Food Policy and Ethics: Foundational thinking for the 21st century Food System”. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2017-0592. October 2018.
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author) and Estepan, S. (2nd Author) of the article: The visual discourse of food and its impact on health. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health Journal 2(6). May 2018.
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author) and Marquis, M. (2nd Author) of the article: School nutrition policies in Lebanon: shared and complementary perspectives of key stakeholder. Clinical Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics; 1 (1). May 2018.
  • Hamadeh, S. Nutrition Education: Between yesterday, today and tomorrow. EC Nutrition; 13(5). April 2018.
  • Hamadeh, S. Healthy lifestyles in the Arab world: between nutrition economics and food politics. Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism; November 2017.
  • Hamadeh, S. Digital food marketing: What we know, what we should know? British Journal of marketing Studies; 5(8). October 2017.
  • Hamadeh, S. Nutrition and physical activity communication in the 21st Century: Challenges and opportunities. EC Nutrition; vol.11(2). October 2017. Abstract also published in J Nutr Food Sci 2017, 7:4 (Suppl).
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author) and Marquis, M. Upstream vision of cues-to-action for nutrition and physical activity promotion among youth: Moving from research to action? Poster presented at: 4th International Conference on Nutrition and Growth; 2017 March 2-4; Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • Hamadeh, S. (First Author) and Marquis, M. (2nd Author) of the article: Impact of socioeconomic and social contexts on youth perceptions of school nutrition policy development in Lebanon. Journal of Nutrition & Health Sciences, 4 (Issue1), 2017.

 

ACADEMIC DEGREES

Postdoc. Science Journalism and Communication, Northwestern University – Qatar
Ph.D. Public Health Nutrition, University of Montreal – Canada

M.Sc. Community Nutrition, University of Montreal – Canada
B.Sc. Medical Laboratory, Saint Joseph University – Lebanon
B.Sc. Sociology, Lebanese University – Lebanon