Monique Chaaya,  Professor of Epidemiology, Associate Dean and Chairperson of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences, the American University of Beirut.  She holds a Doctorate of Public Health from the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Heath, an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a BS in Environmental Health from the American University of Beirut. Her current research focuses on the epidemiology of dementia and the wellbeing of caregivers of people living with dementia.  She validated several mental health scales in Arabic, among them were GDS, the 10/66 DRG scales and RUDAS.  She is the recipient of two NIH grants, an R21 in 2011 and an R01 in 2020, to investigate the burden of dementia and related personal, social and health challenges in the older population of Lebanon by establishing a cohort of persons aged 60 years and above and by building capacity in longitudinal survey research methods. She conducted cross sectional and longitudinal studies on mental health of vulnerable populations, such as displaced families, refugees, underprivileged older adults and postpartum women.