Najat A. Saliba

Najat Aoun Saliba
Born	Najat Khattar Aoun 1966 Near Damour, Lebanon
Occupation(s)	Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Atmospheric Chemist, Politician
Years active	2001–present
Known for	Research on airborne pollutants, environmental activism, Lebanese parliamentarian
Notable work	Founder of Atmosphere and Analytical Laboratory at AUB; Director of Nature Conservation Center; Co-founder and director of Khaddit Beirut; Founder of Environment Academy

Najat Aoun Saliba (Arabic: نجاة عون صليبا‎; Najat Khattar Aoun) holds the position of Professor in Analytical Chemistry and specializes in atmospheric chemistry at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Between 2013 and 2020, she led AUB's Nature Conservation Center. Saliba is a co-founder and current director of Khaddit Beirut, an initiative established in response to the 2020 Beirut explosion, and she also founded the Environment Academy, which receives backing from the World Health Organization. In 2019, she was honored as a recipient of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science award. In 2022, she secured a seat in the Lebanese parliament.

Early life and education

Born in 1966, Saliba spent her early years on a banana plantation near Damour, where her father’s affinity for nature deeply influenced her. The outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War compelled her family to relocate to an urban area, which sparked her dedication to addressing air pollution issues. She obtained her bachelor's degree from the Lebanese University in 1986, followed by a master's degree at California State University, Long Beach in 1994. Her doctoral studies were completed at the University of Southern California in 1999, concentrating on water pollution and catalysis. Subsequently, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Irvine.

Research and career

After the Civil War, Saliba returned to Lebanon and joined the faculty at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2001. She played a pivotal role in founding the Ibsar Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable Futures in 2002—later renamed the Nature Conservation Center—where she held the role of Director. Additionally, she established the Atmospheric and Analytical Laboratory. Early on, she encountered difficulties acquiring chemicals due to shipping limitations imposed by regional conflicts.

Her investigations center on airborne pollutants affecting Lebanon and the broader Middle East region, with particular attention to harmful and carcinogenic substances found in electronic cigarettes and hookahs. Saliba was among the first scientists to detect chemicals such as formaldehyde within hookah smoke and demonstrated that e-cigarettes can emit carbon monoxide. She collaborates with the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products at Virginia Commonwealth University and contributes to a National Institutes of Health initiative examining health effects linked to shisha smoking. Saliba has been involved in securing a $2.8 million grant aimed at creating computational models for assessing tobacco toxicity and has provided expertise to the World Health Organization regarding air quality matters.

She pioneered Lebanon’s inaugural database dedicated to atmospheric pollutants and highlighted environmental hazards related to open-air waste incineration, revealing that such practices can elevate airborne carcinogen levels by up to 2,300%. Her research has identified pollutants including particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, lead, cadmium, titanium, and arsenic stemming from metal combustion in Beirut. Saliba contributed to developing AUB’s Guide to Municipal Solid Waste Management and established international standards for chemical analyses involving water pipes. Her work incorporates novel materials and techniques to advance atmospheric pollutant research. In 2018, under her leadership, AUB’s Nature Conservation Center received recognition from Lush (company) as a prominent organization championing environmental restoration.

In response to the Beirut Port Explosion, Saliba examined its consequences on air quality and cautioned local populations about exposure risks from hazardous chemicals.

She holds an editorial position with PeerJ and was profiled in Nature in 2022 for her commitment to bridging scientific research with community engagement.

In politics

After the 2020 Beirut Port Explosion, Najat Saliba ventured into the political arena, opposing Lebanon's long-standing ruling elite that has dominated for five decades. In the 2022 Lebanese parliamentary elections, she won a seat representing the Maronite community within the Chouf district.

Awards and honours

• 2016 Award from the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research
• 2018 Prize for Interdisciplinary Research from the American Physiological Society
• 2019 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award recipient
• 2019 Recipient of the National Order of the Cedar
• 2019 Included in BBC's list of 100 Women