Dr. Mohamad Abiad is a Professor of Food Processing and Packaging at the Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences and the Director of the Laboratories for the Environment, Agriculture, & Food (LEAF) at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut. He also holds an adjunct faculty position at the School of Packaging, Michigan State University, USA.
Dr. Abiad is also the Senior Advisor for the Minister of Environment and a member of several Ministerial committees, including the National Committee for the Central Public Health Laboratory and the National Committee on Food Safety at the Ministry of Public Health, Chair of the Scientific Committee Assessing Grains at Beirut Seaport following the explosion of August 4, 2020, and a member of several National Committees for Lebanese Standards at the Ministry of Industry’s LIBNOR.
Dr. Abiad holds a Bachelor of Engineering, an MBA, a Master of Science in Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Food Process Engineering. Dr. Abiad is a Lifetime Certified Packaging Professional (CPP-L) from the Institute of Packaging Professionals and a Certified Environmental Sampler (CES). He is Certified by the Better Process Control School on Canned Foods, Principles of Thermal Process Control, Acidification and Container Closure Evaluation, and PCQI Certified by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance.
Dr. Abiad is a member of several professional organizations, including the Institute of Packaging Professionals, the Institute of Food Technologists, the International Society of Food Engineering, the Food Safety Alliance for Packaging, the Registry of International Environmental Samplers, and the Order of Engineers and Architects.
Dr. Abiad’s research focuses on circularity and sustainability in the agro-food sector, mainly working on food waste mitigation and conversion into added-value products. He also investigates food waste recycling, packaging design, innovation, and product development. Dr. Abiad is well-published, with over 80 publications in international high-tier peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and reports.
Dr. Abiad has more than 22 years of consulting experience in the agro-food industry, working with private companies in Lebanon, the Middle East, & the North African region. He has also worked with several funding programs, including the European Union, PRIMA Horizon 2020, USAID, FAO, UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank, EBRD, and ESCWA. He has organized over a dozen capacity-building workshops on various topics related to the food industry, food waste, and food loss, and he has participated in various international conferences presenting his research.
