Owner and Medical Director of the Shammas Eye Medical Centers and M/S Surgery Centers in Lynwood, Downey and Whittier, CA
Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, CA.
Author of the Shammas Formulas and has published 6 books and over 200 scientific peer-reviewed articles related to eye surgery.
Lecturer at the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
Co-Founder and President of the IOL Power Club
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation in Los Angeles, CA, with a physical structure (the first ever in North America) known as the “House of Lebanon” to preserve and perpetuate the Lebanese heritage and culture.
Member of the Board of Trustees for the Lebanese American University Member of the Board of Directors of Partners Bank of California.

Dr. Shammas is the recipient of multiple awards, notably the Cedars Medal (officer) awarded by the President of Lebanon, His Excellency Emile Lahoud, the AMA Physician Recognition Award, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award, the National Arab American Abicenne Scholar Award, the News Circle Arab American Forum Award, the AUB Daniel Bliss Award, the Rotary Club Paul Harris Award, the Visitors Council of Los Angeles International Citizen Award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He was also featured in the Los Angeles Magazine as one of the Super Doctors, in the Arab American Almanac, and in the British Al-Majallah magazine, naming him “Man of the Year” in Medicine.

Born to Michael S.Y Najjar and Mona Sam Khoury in Fih Al-Koura, Prof. Sonia M. Najjar attended the Catholic School System in Northern Lebanon before immigrating to the San Francisco Bay Area in the US in 1977. In 1989, upon completing her PhD degree at Stanford University School of Medicine, she joined the Diabetes Branch at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland to carry out her post-doctoral training in Diabetes Research until 1994. She then joined the faculty of the University of Toledo College of Medicine in Ohio and climbed up the academic rank until she became a Full Professor in 2005 and Director of the Molecular Basis of Disease PhD program from 2000-2007. In 2006, she founded the Center for Diabetes and Endocrine Research (CeDER) and led it until 2016 at which point, she moved to Ohio University to hold the position of Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at the Heritage College of Medicine. She currently holds the OHF John Kopchick Endowed Eminent Research Chair.

Prof. Najjar has reached an international acclaim with her research deciphering how hepatic fibrosis develops and how this may link fatty liver to cardiovascular disease. She has authored hundreds of high-impact scientific articles in leading scientific journals and more than twenty book chapters and review articles. She has also delivered invited seminars, keynote and named lectures in the US and across the globe. As an authority in metabolism, Prof. Najjar has served as Associate Editor and on the editorial board of several scientific journals and as reviewers for funding agencies in the US, Canada, Qatar, England, and Hong Kong. She has recently joined the European Society for Clinical Investigations.

A passionate educator, Prof. Najjar has mentored more than 20 PhD students and several successful physician and basic scientists working in academia and industry, including in Lebanon and the wider Middle East. As a student, she led several Lebanese student associations and as a head of a research laboratory, she has trained several Lebanese medical graduates to increase their competitiveness in the US. She and her husband, Dr. Domenico Accili, Head of the Endocrine Division and Prof of Medicine at Columbia University in New York, have established a private foundation to support the education of students in Italy and Lebanon.

Personal information

Date of Birth: 1 September 1953
Nationality: Lebanese / Belgian
Status: Married, 2 children
E-Mail: [email protected]

Contact information

Office: BDO Lebanon
Address: Ashrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
P.O.Box: 11-0558, 1107-2050
Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science and Economics, University of Louvain, Belgium

Specialization

Audit, Taxation and Business Advisory

Sectors of Expertise: Banking and Finance, Retail, Wholesale, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Chemicals, Real Estate and Hospitality.

Experience

Managing Partner - BDO Lebanon, Semaan, Gholam & Co.

BDO International Liaison Partner- BDO Lebanon.

Middle East Representative for the IFRS working Party, the global committee responsible for setting IFRS policy for BDO global network.

President of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA) June 2008 - January 2010.

Professional Affiliations

Member of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA)

Member of the Arab Organization of Certified Public Accounts since 1995.

George is a serial entrepreneur and has founded and led several successful enterprises in the technology, petroleum, and telecom sectors. George and his wife Dolly have resided in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1983. He is the proud father of three boys, Nicolas, Rony and Patrick, and grandfather of two. He was appointed honorary consul of Lebanon in San Francisco by presidential decree on November 12, 2019.

Education

• Stanford University Master in Business Administration
• University of Michigan Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering
• College Notre Dame de Jamhour - Lebanon

Directorship

• TEC (tecaccutite.com) environmental and construction
• Chammas Group (medco.com.lb) petroleum activities
• IDM (idm.net.lb) GDS (gds.com.lb) CableVision (cablevision.com.lb), Internet access, data communication infrastructure and content services

Entrepreneurship

• kloudr (kloudr.com) cloud managed services provider
• Peerspace Inc.(Peerspace.com) leading marketplace for events
• CIS (cis.com.lb) distributor for leading IT brands
• NavLink Inc. managed services provider sold to Ooredoo and AT&T

Advisory Boards

• RAND Corporation Center for Middle East Public Policy
• Stanford University Graduate School of Business

Honors

• Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society

Salim is currently the Senior Director of Financial Reporting at Oncorps AI. He holds a bachelor in Economics from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and holds a Masters in Financial Economics from Boston University. He also holds a masters in Construction Management from Wentworth institute of Technology. He is currently the president of the WAAAUB New England chapter and has led many fundraising activities for this group. Salim currently resides in Boston and is thrilled to be joining the Beirut Revival Board and support as much as possible the Needy people of Lebanon.