Adolescent Mental Health in The Middle East and North Africa

Dr. Caroline Barakat is an Assistant Professor in Environmental/Occupational Health at Ontario Tech University. She was previously an Assistant Professor and Discipline Representative for Health Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and an Assistant Professor in Health Sciences at Zayed University, Dubai. Her research interests and expertise include the links between environments and health, health across the life course, child and adolescent health, spatial patterns of health and health care, environmental epidemiology, population health, and health inequities. Her research experience focuses on air pollution and health, particularly the long-term health effects of childhood exposure to ambient air quality. She has designed and developed a large database on environmental exposures, health behaviours, and health measures for a sample of approximately 60,000 residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The goal was to examine differences in health status and environmentalexposures across the seven emirates and among nationals and expatriates that reside in the UAE. She was also involved in a national Canadian project that systematically reviews the literature on risk factors related to the progression of 14 priority neurological conditions. She is currently involved in a number of research projects including examining constraints to physical activity among female adolescents, exploring transitioning thalassemia patients from adolescence to adulthood, and parental influence of children with asthma in relation to their physical activity practices.

Dr. Fatme Al Anouti is an Associate Professor at Zayed University, United Arab Emirates.