Dr. Rachelle Ghadieh, part-time instructor at the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), conducted her research on “Phenotyping and Heritability of Constitutional Thinness,” which was funded by the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS).
This research was the basis of her PhD which she obtained in December 2021 from the Jean Monnet University (UJM), member of the University of Lyon, France and was co-directed by both, Professor Bogdan Galusca (UJM) and Professor Jacqueline Doumit (NDU).
The research focused on the familial heritability of French and Lebanese Constitutional Thinness (CT). Ghadieh assessed the hormonal profile, nutritional intake, and psychological status of CT from a sample group in France and compared it to that of another sample group in Lebanon by using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), a widely used international tool to assess eating behavior.
As such, she concluded that constitutional thinness is an underweight state with a BMI range of 13.5 to 17.5 Kg/m2 observed among individuals without any eating disorder or hormonal abnormalities.
Dr. Ghadieh highlighted the importance of this research project in providing solutions for eating disorders, an indispensable need nowadays. “It was a great experience and an opportunity to engage and initiate in multiple research topics”, she added.
Dr. Ghadieh’s thesis was carried out with the help of professionals between the EA 7423 TAPE team in Saint-Etienne, France and the FNHS-NDU, Lebanon.