Haleama Al Sabbah

Prof. Haleama Al Sabbah currently serves as a Full Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Abu Dhabi University, UAE, bringing over 20 years of expertise in academia, scientific research, and leadership in public health and health sciences programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Ghent University, Belgium, where her research focused on public health nutrition, lifestyle, and nutritionrelated behaviors, supported by a prestigious Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) scholarship. She advanced her academic training by completing a post-doctoral fellowship as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Tufts University in Boston, USA.

Prof. Al Sabbah has extensive experience in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in public health and nutrition and has supervised numerous master’s and doctoral theses. Her research portfolio spans key public health challenges, including obesity, diabetes, maternal and child health, noncommunicable diseases, nutrition epidemiology, and refugee health. She has authored over 70 peerreviewed publications, including 61 indexed in SCOPUS. In addition to her academic contributions, Prof. Al Sabbah is an active mentor and a sought-after international keynote speaker. She has played a leading role in regional and global public health initiatives, serving as a consultant for prominent global health organizations, including UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). Her work reflects a strong commitment to advancing public health education, policy, and practice in the MENA region.

Research interests: Her research interests include nutrition-related behaviors; obesity and diabetes management; maternal and child health; breastfeeding; anemia; nutritional epidemiology; social and environmental determinants of public health; mobile health (mHealth); lifestyle factors such as physical activity, smoking, dieting, and stress; as well as non-communicable diseases.