ARAB INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FORUM
Reflections on Leadership:
My Life Story
Dr. Haleama Al Sabbah
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A Little About Myself
 My name is Haleama Al Sabbah, I am an assistant professor in Public Health Nutrtition.
 During my school life, I was focusing on my studies, my ranking at my class was always
ranged between 1st - 5th.
 My dream when I was a child was to pursue my education and improve my life and be an
in-dependent woman.
 I was working at 3 universities in the West Bank: An-Najah, Al Quds and Birzeit
Universities.
 I am the head of the Public Health Department/ Faculty of medicine/ An-Najah
University.
 I participated in many conferences, courses, workshops and projects in all over the
world including Europe, Canada, USA, Africa and some Arab countries
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I was born in Meithaloun Village in the West Bank.
Meithaloun located between Jenin and Nablus cities
Famous in Olives and Vegetables.
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My Family
 I was raised in a great family with five brothers and one sister, all of
them are highly educated except one, married and having children
except me.
 My parents were considered from the low to medium socio-
economic class families at my village.
 Although, my mother was illiterate and my father finished grade 4,
they devoted their money and life in educating their children.
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My Family
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My timeline
Born in
Oct 1967
Jenin High
school
1984-1986
1974-1984
Meithaloun
school
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High Diploma
Birzeit
1997-1998
1986-1990
BA: JUST
PhD: Gent
2004-2008
1998-2000
Master: Oslo
2011-2012
Post-Doc
Tufts
School Life
 My favorite subjects were Math and Biology
 At school time, I spent most of my time studying and working
hard in order to get high scores and be able to attend a
university and improve my life.
 At school I was very quit students and most teachers knew me
after the exams.
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University life
 1986-1990: I got BA in Public Health Nutrition from Jordan University
of Science and Technology, Jordan.
 1997- 1998: Scholarship for High Diploma in Primary Health Care.
BirZeit University, Palestine.
 1998- 2000: Scholarship for Master in International Community Health.
Norwegian Government Quota Program. Oslo University, Norway.
 2004-2008: Scholarship for PhD in Public Health Nutrition. Belgian
Technical Cooperation (BTC). Gent University, Belgium.
 2011-2012, Fulbright Scholarship for Post-Doctorate in Nutrition and
research. Tufts University, Boston, USA.
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Working life
1990-1993: I worked at many hospitals in Amman as a dietitian.
1993-1995: I worked at Amman University as an administrator at the
students house
1995-1998: I worked as a Director for the Health Services and
Nutritionist at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah.
2000-2004: coordinator for Health/nutrition projects, Office Manager
for MARAM Jenin office, Health Research consultant, Health Projects
Evaluator, Grants Coordinator, Behavioural Change and Communication
Coordinator, Needs Assessments for Primary Health Care and
Coordination for Maternity Homes.
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2008-2011:
 Head of the Public Health Department/ Faculty of Medicine /An-
Najah National University.
 Coordinator for the Master Program in Public Health.
 Assistant Professor and Teaching for Medical, Nutritional,
Pharmacological students and Master students in Public Health.
 Consultant and Researcher traveled to Guinea-Bissau, Africa
working on Nutrition intervention study and the health situation.
 Researcher on Intervention studies to Prevent Excess Weight Gain in
Obese Women.
 Country and lead Researcher, supervisor, evaluator and project
coordinator for many international and national organizations (UNICEF,
UNIFEM, CHF, ….)
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My Strengths
I am creative.
I am flexible.
I am healthy.
I like working with people.
I like using computers.
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Published Books at Amazon
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“Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed, people can
change the world”.
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