Prof. Elie Karam received his MD in 1974 and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (USA) in 1979.

Prof. Elie Karam came back to Lebanon in 1980 and worked at the American University of Beirut and in parallel founded the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology at St. George Hospital Medical Center, Balamand University, Faculty of Medicine in Lebanon, of which he is currently Professor and Head since 2001. He had served too as the Head of Department of Psychiatry in the Lebanese University Medical School from 1995 till 2000.

Prof. Elie Karam founded IDRAAC (Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care) in 1985 and is currently the institution’s Executive Director. IDRAAC is an institute solely devoted to Research and Field Services in Mental Health. (www.idraac.org). IDRAAC’s research has addressed a variety of important regional and international issues such as violence (including war), depression, bipolar disorders, suicide, substance abuse, childhood disorders, burden and treatment of mental health disorders, temperament etc…

In addition to the researches outlined above, prof. Elie Karam and IDRAAC’s team initiated the first national study on mental health in the Arab World – Lebanese Evaluation of the Burden of Ailments and Needs Of the Nation(L.E.B.A.N.O.N.). IDRAAC has been designated by Harvard Medical School and WHO (Geneva) as the training center for CIDI for the Arab World and has trained  researchers from UAE, Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and most recently Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Prof. Elie Karam is member of several national and international societies. He is on the Editorial Board of several international journals. He has published several articles that can be found on IDRAAC’s website: www.idraac.org.

Prof. Elie Karam founded too M.I.N.D (Medical Institute for Neuropsychological Disorders) in 1985. M.I.N.D clinics are outpatient facilities that are best known for this multi-specialist approach delivered by experts in the field of psychiatry, psychology, social work and nursing and have specialists in Child / Adolescent, Adult and Geriatric Mental Health. (www.mindclinics.org).