Dr. Naji J Riachi recently joined Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City as Consultant Neurologist and Khalifa University College of Medicine as Clerkship Director of Neurology and Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs. Prior to that, Dr. Riachi was Tenured Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut, Lebanon, and Assistant Dean for Clinical Research at the LAU Gilbert and Rosemary Chagoury School of Medicine (LAU SOM).  

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he received his M.D. degree from the American University of Beirut. He then pursued a 4 years Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Neuropharmacology and Neurochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and completed his Residency in Neurology at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Subsequently, he joined the Cleveland Clinics Foundation for a two-year Fellowship in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry and a diplomate of the American Board of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology. He is member of several scientific societies including the American Academy of Neurology, Lebanese Neurological Society, and founding member and past President of the Lebanese League Against Epilepsy.

Dr. Riachi returned to Lebanon in the summer of 1997 to build the Neurology program at Rizk Hospital, now LAU Medical Center RH. His areas of expertise include epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, headache and cognition. He had a busy outpatient practice with over 24,000 patients, yet he remained very involved in teaching. He developed and headed the laboratories of neurophysiology, built and was coordinator of the Neurosciences Module for LAU Med II students, designed a 4 weeks Neurology Clerkship for Med III students at LAU Medical Center RH, created the residency-training programs in Neurology at the LAU SOM and was previously the co-director of the Lebanese University Neurology Residency Program. He still is actively involved in teaching, assessing and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows. He trained 13 neurologists, now successful practicing neurologists both in Lebanon and abroad. 

As Assistant Dean for Clinical Research, he worked on establishing the procedures and policies for research and helped streamline the process of good conduct of research at the LAU SOM and Medical Center. Dr. Riachi secured several donations and grants to conduct his own research work that has lately focused on neurostimulation and investigating diabetic peripheral neuropathy. He has been involved in several clinical studies and gave more than 300 lectures locally, regionally and internationally. He is an editorial board member of several leading journals and the author of many peer reviewed publications and book chapters.