The Neuroscience Research Center (NRC) at the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Medicine was founded by Professor Youssef Fares in 2014. It became the first center in the Middle East and North Africa region to offer a Master of Science (MS) and a Doctor in Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, and Neuroimaging.
Dr. Youssef Fares is a Professor and the Chair of Neurosurgery at the Lebanese University, where he holds the position of Associate Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He is the Founding Director of the Neuroscience Research Center and the Coordinator of the Institutional Review Board at the Lebanese University. He is also the Founding President of the Lebanese Association of Spine Surgery, CEO/Chairman of Al-Zahraa Hospital University Medical Center, and an attending Neurosurgeon at several university medical centers across Lebanon.
Dr. Fares’ ability to build with the vision to improve, led him to found, preside over and develop a number of centers and associations in Lebanon. He is the Founder and President of the Lebanese Association of Spine Surgery that aims at spreading awareness on spine health and improving spine surgery in Lebanon. His passion for research, driven by his will to improve this field in Lebanon, led him to establish the Neuroscience Research Center (NRC) at the Lebanese University at which he serves as the Founding Director. The NRC is a multidisciplinary research and teaching center with highly qualified scholars that offers graduate and post-graduate opportunities for Lebanese, Arab and international students to promote and encourage research in Lebanon and the region. Under Dr. Fares’ leadership, the NRC was awarded the ‘International World Quality Commitment Award 2017 in the GOLD Category’ in Paris; the award honors an organization’s merits in innovation, quality and excellence. In August 2016, Dr. Fares was appointed the CEO and Chairman of Al-Zahraa Hospital University Medical Center (ZHUMC), after serving as a Member of its Executive Board for a year. Plans for structural and functional development of the hospital are underway under his leadership.