Roula M. Abdel-Massih is a Community Educator at Central Michigan University (USA) and a GBAC (Global Biorisk Advisory Council) Ambassador. She was a former professor at the University of Balamand, Lebanon (2003-2021), where she also served as Chairperson of the Department of Biology (2008-2011). Roula obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the American University of Beirut and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Glasgow (UK, 2001). Her primary research focus is on identifying bioactive (antibacterial and anti-proliferative) compounds from natural products. She was elected as a TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences) Young Affiliate (2011-2015) and is a member of various professional societies such as OWSD (Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World), Academic Society for Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds (ASFFBC), among others. Roula has a track record of more than 40 papers in internationally reputed journals, two book chapters, and has conference proceedings in around 50 International conferences. She also received grants from local and international agencies and supervised more than 30 graduate students.

Roula has been recognized for her achievements by various organizations, including The New York Academy of Sciences and the STS (Science and Technology in Society), who selected her to participate in the 2015 Future Leaders program in Japan. She was also elected as an education fellow in the US National Academies in the Life Sciences (2015-2016), obtained a Certificate of Completion for the APLD Program (May 2016) at Harvard, and was granted the TYAN Collaborative Grant Award (Emory, 2019). She is an IFBA Certified Professional in Biorisk Management (Sept 2019).

Recently, Roula moved to the US, where she was selected as an editor for the Functional Food Science Journal (June 2021), co-chair for the Advocacy task team (July 2021) for Science in Exile Initiative, and co-chair of the TWAS Young Affiliates Network (TYAN) Executive Committee (Nov. 2021).