Brief History

After obtaining an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Peshawar, I worked as a Scientific Officer at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan. I then proceeded to USA to work towards my Ph.D in the Department of Biochemistry Molecular Biology, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA.

During my stay in the US I worked as a Research Assistant at the Department of Biochemistry, University of North Texas and as a Research Associate at the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. After completing my Ph.D. I came back to Pakistan and joined Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories as a Senior Scientific Officer and was subsequently promoted to the position of Principal Scientific Officer. From 1998 to 2001 I worked for a while, with Dr. Chris Tyler-Smith at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK in the lab of Prof. E.M. Southern. In 2002 I joined Shifa College of Medicine as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and in 2003 was promoted to the post of Associate Professor & also appointed as the Director of PCR Labs. In 2004 I was appointed as the Research Director of Shifa College of Medicine. In 2005 I joined COMSATS University as Professor of Biosciences and also served as the Chair of the Department of Biosciences till 2008 when I was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences. In the meanwhile I am continuing to serve as the Research & PCR Lab Director at the Shifa College of Medicine.

My training has been in Chemical pathology, Biochemistry, Biomedical & Genetic Engineering. I have completed courses in DNA Cloning & Sequencing from the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom. In Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Applications from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Rockville, Maryland, USA., a course in operation of the DNA sequencer Model 377 from Applied Biosystems, A Division of Perkin Elmer American, at the Foster City, USA and a fourth course in DNA Sequencer Training from the Beckman centre, High wycombe, UK.

My research specialization includes Enzymology, Population & Molecular Genetics and Molecular Pathology. I am particularly interested in searching for the molecular basis of all forms of inherited diseases in the Pakistani populations and my research group, comprising of 4 PhD, 5 MS students, 4 Assistant Professors and 3 Foreign Professors, is currently working on a number of different projects along these lines.

 

Professional Experience

 

2011-present    CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan Dean ·    Research & Innovation, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology

2005-present    CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan Professor of Biosciences ·    Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2008-2011        CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan Dean ·    Faculty of Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2010     CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan In-charge (Director), Islamabad Campus ·    COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2009-2010        CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan In-charge Student Affairs, Islamabad Campus ·    COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2009-2009        CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan In-charge (HR), Islamabad Campus ·    COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2007-2010        CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan In-charge Bio-Physics Block, Chak Shahzad Campus ·    Bio-Physics Block, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2005-2008        CIIT     Islamabad, Pakistan Chairman of Biosciences ·    Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

2003-present    SCM    Islamabad, Pakistan Research Director & PCR Lab Director ·    Department of Research and PCR Lab, Shifa College of Medicine.

2002-2005        SCM    Islamabad, Pakistan Research Director, PCR Lab Director & Associate Professor of Biochemistry ·    Departments of Research and of Biochemistry, Shifa College of Medicine.

1998-2001                    Islamabad, Pakistan Principal Scientific Officer ·    Biomedical & Genetic Engineering Laboratories.

1998-2001        University of Oxford      Oxford, UK Wellcome Trust Fellow ·    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford.

1993–1998                    Islamabad, Pakistan Senior Scientific Officer ·    Biomedical & Genetic Engineering Laboratories.

1988–1993        TCOM Fort Worth, TX, USA Research Associate ·    Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.

1987-1988                  UNT                                     Denton, TX, USA Research Assistant ·     Department of Biochemistry, University of North Texas

1986-1987                    NIH                              Islamabad, Pakistan Scientific Officer (Chemical Pathology) ·    Department of Public Health, National Institute of Health

Courses and Workshops attended

• "DNA Sequencer Training" Beckman centre, High wycombe, UK, 2006
• "Model 377 Training Course", Applied Biosystems, A Division of Perkin Elmer American, Foster City, USA, 1996.
• "Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Applications", American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Rockville, Maryland, USA, 1994.
• "DNA Cloning & Sequencing Workshop 1993", University of Portsmouth, UK. Supervised by Dr. Keith Firman.

Grants and Awards

• 2008   Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• 2009-2011   BPS. 80,000, British Council INSPIRE Research Grant Award as Co-PI.
• 2009-2010   Rs. 1.0 Million Core Grant from the Shifa College of Medicine as PI.
• 2007-2010   Rs. 5.2 Million under the HEC Research Grant Award as PI.
• 2007-2010   Rs. 3.932 Million under the HEC Research Grant Award as Co-PI.
• 2007-2010   Rs. 3 Million under the HEC Research Grant Award as Co-PI.
• 2007-2009   Rs. 6 Million under the HEC Research Grant Award as Co-PI.
• 2006-2009   Rs. 6 Million under the HEC Research Grant Award as PI.
• 2006-2007   Rs. 1 Million under the HEC Support Grant Award as Co-PI.
• 2006-2006   Rs. 0.677 Million under the HEC Lab Upgradation Award as PI.
• 2004-2007   Rs. 0.404 Million under the Shifa College of Medicine Research Grant Award as PI.
• 2004-2006   Rs. 0.047 Million under the Shifa College of Medicine Research Grant Award as PI.
• 2003-2004   Rs. 0.221 Million under the Shifa College of Medicine Research Grant Award as PI.
• 1998-2001   Wellcome Trust Fellow, UK.
• 1987-1988   Robert A. Welch Foundation Fellowship, USA.
• 1983-1985   Merit Award Scholarship, University of Peshawar, N.W.F.P.
• 1981-1982   Merit Award Scholarship, N.W.F.P. Board of Int. & Sec. Ed.

Membership

• Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, 2009-for life.

• The Human Genome Project (HUGO), UK 1998-present.

• Member of the WHO/EMRO Health Genomics and Biotechnology grant review committee, Egypt 2009.

• Lecturer The Human Genome Project (HUGO), UK.

• Associate Editor of the Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences.

• Convener of the Board of Faculty of Science, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2008-present.

• Convener of the Campus Selection Committee, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2009-2010.

• Convener of the Board of Studies of the Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2005-2008.

• Member Board of Governors COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2008-present.

• Member of the Finance and Planning Committee (F&PC), COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2008-2011.

• Member of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Visiting Scholar Program (VSP) Selection Committee 2010-present.

• Member of the System-Wide Committee (SWC), COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) 2009-2010.

• Member Core Group of Life Sciences of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) 2008-2009.

• Member of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Committee on Microbiology, Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.

• Member of the Ethics Committee of Shifa International Hospital (SIH) and Shifa College of Medicine (SCM) 2002-present.

• Member of the Institutional Review Board of Shifa International Hospital (SIH) and Shifa College of Medicine (SCM) 2002-present.

• Member of the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) Technical Committee on Medical Sciences 2007-2010.

• Member of the Shifa Tameer-i-Millat University Program Development Team.

• Member of the LUMS SSE Virtual Program Development Team.

• Member of the Committee of Courses for the Centre for Advanced Forensic Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University.