AUB@Work is the American University of Beirut’s monthly audio newsletter spotlighting the university’s most compelling research and expert commentary. Each month features four curated stories that highlight AUB’s cutting-edge innovations and timely insights from faculty on global developments. Designed for media professionals, think tanks, and curious readers alike, AUB@Work keeps you informed and inspired by AUB’s contributions to today’s most pressing conversations.
AUB@Work
Claim This Podcastby American University of Beirut
21 episodes
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Podcast Overview
AUB@Work is the American University of Beirut’s monthly audio newsletter spotlighting the university’s most compelling research and expert commentary. Each month features four curated stories that highlight AUB’s cutting-edge innovations and timely insights from faculty on global developments. Designed for media professionals, think tanks, and curious readers alike, AUB@Work keeps you informed and inspired by AUB’s contributions to today’s most pressing conversations.
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Publishing Since
6/13/2025
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Recent Episodes
June 11, 2026
What the Current Ebola Outbreak Reveals About Public Health
<p><strong>What the Current Ebola Outbreak Reveals About Public Health</strong></p><p>In this episode of AUB@Work, infectious disease expert Nesrine Rizk explains why the current Ebola outbreak in central Africa is unlikely to become another COVID-like pandemic, but still carries an urgent global warning.</p><p>Rizk, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and associate professor of clinical medicine at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, discusses how Ebola spreads, why this outbreak is especially concerning, and what it reveals about the relationship between disease, conflict, displacement, and fragile health systems.</p><p>While Ebola does not spread through the air like respiratory viruses, delayed detection and limited treatment options can make containment far more difficult. The current outbreak involves the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or targeted treatment, leaving health officials with fewer tools to respond.</p><p>The episode also explores the broader lesson behind outbreaks of Ebola, hantavirus, COVID-19, and other zoonotic diseases: in a connected world, the health of one community cannot be separated from the health of another.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><p>Nesrine Rizk explains what Ebola is and how it is transmitted.</p><p>She discusses why the current outbreak is alarming despite Ebola’s limited modes of transmission.</p><p>She explains how conflict, displacement, and weakened health systems make outbreaks harder to contain.</p><p>She reflects on what zoonotic diseases reveal about global vulnerability and shared responsibility.</p><p>She argues that protecting communities affected by poverty, conflict, and weak health systems is both a practical public health priority and an ethical obligation.</p><p><strong>Featured expert:</strong></p><p>Nesrine Rizk</p><p>Head, Division of Infectious Diseases</p><p>Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine</p><p>American University of Beirut Medical Center</p><p><strong>Listen to learn why diseases that emerge in one place rarely remain local — and why global health depends on protecting the communities most at risk.</strong></p>
June 11, 2026
Lebanese Founders Are Turning Constraints Into a Start-Up Advantage
<p><strong>Episode Title:</strong> Lebanese Founders Are Turning Constraints Into a Start-Up Advantage</p><p><strong>Episode Description:</strong></p><p>Lebanon’s start-up founders face limited capital, ongoing instability, and a small domestic market. But at a New York Tech Week event cohosted by AUB’s Talal and Madiha Zein Innovation Park, known as iPark, and Impersonas, Lebanese founders and innovation leaders argued that those same pressures have helped create an entrepreneurial edge.</p><p>This episode explores how diaspora networks, crisis-tested adaptability, deep talent, and institutional support are helping Lebanese entrepreneurs build global companies far beyond Lebanon.</p><p><strong>In This Episode:</strong></p><p>We look at four advantages Lebanese founders can build on now:</p><p>Diaspora reach: how Lebanese entrepreneurs draw on global networks of capital, mentors, operators, and technologists.</p><p>Crisis-tested adaptability: why navigating instability can sharpen the problem-solving skills start-ups need.</p><p>Existing strengths: how sectors such as health care, higher education, technology, and the creative industries offer foundations for innovation.</p><p>Institutional support: how iPark helps turn talent, resilience, and ideas into scalable ventures.</p><p><strong>Featured Voices:</strong></p><p>Kamal S. Shehadi, Lebanon’s minister of state for technology and artificial intelligence, and minister of the displaced</p><p>Rich Ziade, CEO of Aboard</p><p>Khaled Kteily, CEO of Legacy</p><p>Michele Haddad, CCO at Synova Life Sciences and entrepreneur-in-residence for one of iPark’s flagship programs</p><p>Maha Zouwayed, director of iPark</p><p><strong>Key Quotes:</strong></p><p>“The diaspora has been a source of capital, ideas, and volunteers.” — Kamal S. Shehadi</p><p>“We flourish wherever you drop us.” — Rich Ziade</p><p>“The second you define yourself as a victim is the second you lose.” — Khaled Kteily</p><p>“The willingness to adapt your thinking and to navigate change is a Lebanese skill that can become a business advantage.” — Rich Ziade</p><p>“At iPark, we focus on collaboration rather than competition. And it works.” — Maha Zouwayed</p><p><strong>Why It Matters:</strong></p><p>The episode reframes Lebanon’s start-up story around possibility rather than limitation. The country’s challenges remain real, but its founders are showing how constraints can produce adaptability, global ambition, and a distinctive way of building companies.</p><p><strong>Listen to learn:</strong></p><p>How Lebanon’s diaspora strengthens its start-up ecosystem</p><p>Why adaptability is a practical business advantage</p><p>Where Lebanese founders may have the strongest competitive edge</p><p>How iPark is helping make entrepreneurial success more repeatable</p><p>Why Lebanon’s next innovation challenge is not only producing exceptional founders, but building systems that help them scale</p>
June 11, 2026
Why the Same Workout Works Differently for Different Bodies
<p><strong>Why the Same Workout Works Differently for Different Bodies</strong></p><p>Why do some people burn more energy doing the same activity, while others seem to conserve it? In this episode of AUB at Work, sports nutrition researcher Elie-Jacques Fares explains why the same workout, diet, or supplement plan can produce very different results from one person to another.</p><p>Fares, assistant professor of clinical and sports nutrition in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, studies how bodies burn and conserve energy. His research looks at exercise efficiency, body composition, and the tools scientists use to better understand how each person’s body responds to movement, training, nutrition, and supplementation.</p><p>The conversation begins with a surprising finding from one of Fares’s studies: when participants were compared while sitting and standing, only about 20 percent burned more energy while standing. The rest were “energy savers,” whose bodies performed the same task without spending more calories.</p><p>That finding opens up a broader discussion about why energy expenditure is more complex than we often assume. Two people can appear to be doing the same exercise or movement, but internally, their bodies may be doing very different amounts of work.</p><p>Fares also explains why exercise efficiency is not inherently good or bad. For endurance athletes, becoming more efficient can help conserve energy during long events. But for people trying to lose weight, too much adaptation to the same workout may reduce how much energy the body burns over time.</p><p>He also discusses why nutrition and exercise plans should be tested individually, why athletes experiment with diet and supplements before major competitions, and why everyday exercisers should change one variable at a time when trying something new.</p><p>The episode also explores body composition tools, including machines such as InBody, Tanita, and Seca, as well as bioelectrical impedance vector analysis, or BIVA. Fares explains how BIVA looks beyond basic estimates of fat mass and muscle mass to examine raw electrical values that can offer insight into hydration, cellular health, and how the body changes over time.</p><p>Finally, Fares discusses where his research is headed next, including projects using stable isotopes to measure energy expenditure and body composition with greater precision, and studies examining how metabolism, fat mass, muscle mass, and activity patterns may interact with long-term health risks such as cardiovascular disease.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><p>Why standing does not necessarily burn more energy than sitting</p><p>What it means to be an “energy spender” or an “energy saver”</p><p>Why two people doing the same workout may burn different amounts of energy</p><p>How exercise efficiency can help endurance athletes but complicate weight-loss efforts</p><p>Why nutrition and supplement plans should be tested individually</p><p>How to track whether a new diet, exercise routine, or supplement is working</p><p>What body composition tools can and cannot tell us</p><p>How BIVA may offer a more precise picture of hydration, body composition, and cellular health</p><p>How Fares’s research could lead to more personalized nutrition, exercise, and health recommendations</p><p><strong>Featured expert:</strong></p><p>Elie-Jacques Fares</p><p>Assistant Professor of Clinical and Sports Nutrition</p><p>Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences</p><p>American University of Beirut</p><p><strong>Listen to learn why there may be no such thing as a one-size-fits-all workout—and why understanding how your own body uses energy could shape the future of exercise, nutrition, and health.</strong></p>
21 total episodes available
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This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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