University & higher-education guidance
Course and country selection, application strategy, and the transition from secondary school to university — helping each student build a list that genuinely fits.
Tracy Abi Hanna
Academic counsellor and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme coordinator.
I help students navigate the path from school to university — subject choices, the IB diploma, and admissions — with a practice grounded in psychology and applied neuroscience.
MSc Applied Neuroscience, King's College London
IB Diploma Programme Coordinator
Published researcher
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About
Tracy Abi Hanna is an academic counsellor based in Doha, guiding secondary-school students through the academic, personal, and university-admissions decisions that shape what comes next.
Over more than four years in international education she has worked as a school counsellor and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme coordinator, and now leads academic counselling at the school level. Her approach is patient and evidence-led: she pairs the day-to-day craft of counselling — knowing a student, mapping options, building a plan — with a deeper grounding in how people learn, decide, and cope under pressure.
That grounding is genuine. Before moving into education she coordinated clinical research at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre's Multiple Sclerosis Center, where she co-authored published research on patients' quality of life. She holds an honours degree in Psychology from the Lebanese American University and is completing a Master of Science in Applied Neuroscience at King's College London.
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How I support students
The IB Diploma Programme
Subject selection, the core — Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and CAS — and coordinating the diploma so students meet its demands with confidence.
Academic planning & study skills
The habits, structures, and time-management that let students do their best work — and the academic-integrity grounding that keeps that work their own.
Wellbeing & motivation
A psychology- and neuroscience-informed approach to stress, motivation, and how students learn — so the support reaches the whole student, not just the transcript.
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Experience
Head of Academic Counselling
Doha, Qatar
Leading academic counselling at the school level — overseeing university guidance, academic planning, and the support structures that carry students through their final years of school.
Counsellor & IB Diploma Programme Coordinator
Lycée Franco-Qatarien Voltaire · Doha, Qatar
Counselled students through subject choices, university applications, and personal challenges, while coordinating the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme across the school.
Clinical Research Coordinator
American University of Beirut Medical Centre — Multiple Sclerosis Center · Beirut, Lebanon
Coordinated clinical research at the MS Center, contributing to published work on the factors affecting patients' health-related quality of life across Lebanon and the wider MENA region.
Training & Educational Development Coordinator
GCI LAU Model United Nations · Byblos, Lebanon & New York, USA
Designed and delivered training, educational development, and logistics for a major Model United Nations programme across two continents.
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Research & publications
Peer-reviewed publication
Farran, N., Safieddine, B., Bayram, M., Abi Hanna, T., Massouh, J., AlKhawaja, M., Tamim, H., & Darwish, H. (2019). Factors affecting MS patients' health-related quality of life and measurement challenges in Lebanon and the MENA region. Multiple Sclerosis Journal — Experimental, Translational and Clinical, 1–12.
2018–19
Clinical Research CoordinatorAUBMC Multiple Sclerosis Center, Beirut
2017
Research AssistantUniversity of Oxford (Christ Church) & Dartmouth College
2015
Research InternQatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Doha
2014
Research InternShen Lab, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
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Education & credentials
- MSc Applied Neuroscience — King's College London · in progress, expected 2026 (High Distinction standing)
- BA Psychology (Honours) — Lebanese American University · awarded Best Senior Research Project by the Department of Psychology
- IB Diploma Programme, Category 1 — Counselling
- IB Diploma Programme, Category 1 — Leading the Learning
- Fundamental Neuroscience for Neuroimaging — Johns Hopkins University
- Research ethics — Responsible Conduct of Research (CITI); Protecting Human Research Participants (NIH); Title IX (EVERFI)
Technical: R · SPSS · C++ · Microsoft Office Suite · Adobe Photoshop
ArabicNative
EnglishHighly proficient
FrenchHighly proficient
SpanishBeginner
GermanBeginner
Let's talk about your students
Open to academic-counselling roles, IB coordination, and collaboration with schools and families. The best way to reach me is by email.