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Applications for AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship, 2019

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The AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship Fund is the result of a collaboration between AKUAANA and JRM (Jamshed-Rahim-Mannan) Foundation for Humanity, an Idaho based non-profit started by two AKU alumni, Dr. Fahim Rahim, ’97 and Dr. Naeem Rahim, ’98. This fund was created to provide financial relief for medical students pursuing electives in North America. Further details for eligibility for the scholarship may be found here.

AKUAANA announced the first two recipients of the scholarship last year, one of whom has completed her electives while the other is currently doing her electives in the US.

A sample of the online application can be viewed here. Please note that only submissions made via the online application portal for the AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship will be accepted.

For queries, please feel free to contact AKUAANA Secretary Dr Noor Afshan, ’96 at secretary@akuaana.org.

Note: Applications for the year 2019-20 were invited from August 1st till September 2nd, 2019, and are now closed. Thank you for your interest.

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AKU Alumnus Adnan Hyder (1990) awarded Medal of Distinction by Safe Kids Worldwide for his work to prevent childhood injuries

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Adnan Hyder, MD, PhD, MPH, received the C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction from global organization Safe Kids Worldwide for his work to prevent childhood injuries. Hyder, the senior associate dean for research and a professor of global health at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), was recognized at the Safe Kids Worldwide International Childhood Injury Prevention Convention on July 18. The convention brought together over 500 safety professionals to collaborate on ways to protect children on the road, at home and at play.

Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations, works to prevent unintentional childhood injuries. The C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction, named after Safe Kids Worldwide founding chairman C. Everett Koop and the organization’s highest honor, recognizes a professional who embodies Koop’s legacy of working to protect all families and children.

For over 20 years, Hyder has worked to improve global health, road safety and children’s health in low- and middle-income countries around the world. He has co-authored over 300 scientific papers and numerous reports on road safety, children’s health and ethics, including a December 2018 commentary in The Lancet Public Health that called on policymakers to make global roads safer. Prior to joining Milken Institute SPH, Hyder founded and directed the International Injury Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has worked with partner organizations, including the World Health Organization, to avert injuries and related fatalities, serves on the boards of Youth for Road Safety and Health Systems Global, and represents Milken Institute SPH at the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.

“I am honored to receive this recognition from Safe Kids Worldwide, who are pioneers in the global effort to protect children from preventable injuries around the world,” Hyder said. “We’ve made great progress as a community to make roadways and homes safer for all, including children, but we must continue to push forward and enact worldwide change to prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths.”

Learn more about Hyder’s research here.

Source: Milken Institute School of Public Health | The George Washington University

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Nominees for AKUAANA Office, 2020-21

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AKUAANA offices subject to election in this cycle for a two-year term include:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer

Given below is a brief profile of the nominations received so far (in no particular order) by the AKUAANA Nominations and Elections Committee for these offices.

President
Faisal H. Cheema
Class of 2000
Email: faisal.cheema@me.com

An AKU graduate of Class of 2000, Dr. Cheema is a prolific physician-scientist who specializes in basic sciences, translational and clinical research.

Dr. Cheema holds a faculty appointment at Baylor College of Medicine where he is the Director of Research and Innovations, in the Division of Cardiothoracic Transplantation of Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery. Under his leadership, the Division of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Circulatory Support has built a strong program in research. In addition, Dr. Cheema is also the Director Research of a consortium of 18 hospitals in Texas, as part of Gulf Coast Division of HCA which is the world’s largest hospital network. Besides, Dr. Cheema also provides leadership to Aegis Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

Dr. Cheema’s research has focused on all aspects of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery with a special interest in surgical management of end-stage heart failure, in particular, heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support devices. He has been involved in a wide range of clinical trials. Additional areas of interest include stem cell research, biomedical engineering, ex-vivo organ perfusion and resuscitation, and device innovation and in-vivo testing.

Before joining Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Cheema was the Director of Clinical Research and Innovations & an Assistant Professor of Cardiac Surgery at University of Maryland where he oversaw recruitment in ~3 dozen clinical trials.

Dr. Cheema earned his M.B.;B.S. from The Aga Khan University followed by a clinical research fellowship in heart transplantation from the Robert Van Kampen Heart Transplant Resource Center at Loyola University. Later, he moved to Columbia University for additional post-doctoral research fellowships and stayed on as research faculty (Associate Research Scientist) as well as the Director of Cardiopulmonary Tissue Repository. Dr. Cheema was elected as University Senator from 2009-11 and served on several important senate committees during his tenure representing the entire body of researchers of Columbia University.

Dr. Cheema has co-authored over 115 scientific manuscripts and ~300 abstracts. He has presented his research at conferences worldwide. Additionally, he has written several book chapters and secured numerous grants both from private and federal agencies surpassing $6 Million in cumulative funding. His research papers have appeared in high impact journals such as The Lancet, PNAS, JCI, Circulation, BMJ, World Journal of Surgery, JTCVS, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, EJCTS, JHLT, Circulation Heart Failure, and Circulation Research. He serves as a reviewer on several scholarly journals. A proven clinical researcher and academician with ~4750 citations to his published scientific work and an impressive h-index of 31, Dr. Cheema is also a member of numerous professional organizations and is very active in academic, philanthropic and community organizations.

Dr. Cheema has served the Aga Khan University Alumni Association of North America (AKUAANA) as its Secretary in the past and is currently discharging his duties as the Treasurer for the term 2018-19.

He loves to mentor students and young physicians.

Secretary
Haresh Kumar
Class of 2003
Email: hareshkumar22@gmail.com

I was born in Thana Bula Khan, Sindh. We moved to Tando Mohd Khan and then to Hyderabad for higher education. I went to the University of Minnesota for IM residency (2004-2007) and did a Nephrology fellowship (2007-2009) from University of Louisville, Kentucky (2009).

After partnering with another AKU graduate, I started a solo Nephrology practice in Victoria TX that provides services in Victoria and surrounding counties.

I can read, write and speak English, Urdu and Sindhi. And like to read literature and poetry in all 3 languages. I started playing tennis 9 years ago and wish I had started it earlier.

I would like to see more involvement of AKU alumni in Pakistani communities either through electronic media or during their visits in Pakistan. I can partly facilitate that.

Treasurer
Ammar Javed
Class of 2013
Email: ammar.aku@gmail.com

Ammar A. Javed, MD is the lead postdoctoral research fellow, database manager and program coordinator for clinical, translational and molecular research for the Division of Surgical Oncology (Pancreatic Surgery), Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As an avid researcher, he is involved in both clinical and translational research in the field of pancreatic surgery and pancreatic cancer biology.

His research revolves around improving our understanding of the biology of pancreatic cancer aimed at improving both diagnostic techniques and therapeutics currently being used to treat this lethal disease. Under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher Wolfgang, Dr. Jin He, and Dr. Richard Burkhart, Dr. Javed and his colleagues are currently developing novel techniques to isolate and characterize circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients, as well as techniques to establish tumor-derived organoid. Their goal is to identify subtypes of pancreatic cancer and correlate these findings to the clinicopathological features such as treatment response and long-term outcomes of these patients. Furthermore, with the use of drug-sensitivity testing on tumor-derived organoids they aim to pave a path for precision medicine approaches to patient care in the near future.

On the clinical side, his research focuses on the identification of factors associated with long term outcomes of patients undergoing resection of malignant diseases as well as those associated with increased risk of postoperative complications and higher healthcare costs in patients undergoing pancreatic surgery for all indications. In addition to numerous retrospective studies, he has been responsible for multiple randomized control trials evaluating interventions that can help alleviate the burden of postoperative morbidity and decrease the associated healthcare costs.

Dr. Javed received his medical degree from the Aga Khan University, one of Asia’s leading medical schools. During his time at the Aga Khan University, he was instrumental in several research studies and trained as a visiting research scholar at Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital Boston, and The Johns Hopkins school of Medicine to gain expertise in clinical and translational research. After graduating from his medical school he joined his current team at Johns Hopkins. As a hardworking, driven, and passionate individual Dr. Javed aims to pursue a career as a surgeon scientist with a focus on pancreatic diseases and pancreatic surgery.

Dr. Javed associates a majority of his early success to the training he received at AKUMC. In particular, he feels that the mentorship he received from AKUMC graduates in the North Americas in particular Dean Adil Haider, helped him formulate a career plan and execute it. Determined to give back to his home institution, he has been an active member of AKUAANA since he moved to the North Americas having devoted time and effort towards multiple activities related to the association; most recently having served on the selection committee for JRM Scholarship Fund.

He is invested in training students, currently enrolled at AKUMC, who are interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine. As a postdoctoral research fellow, he has mentored over a dozen students, half of whom have visited him to participate in research electives at Johns Hopkins. Being a recent graduate, who has mentored current students, puts him in a unique position where he has a good understanding of the requirements and pathway to becoming a clinician-scientist as well as the problems being faced by students in obtaining and supporting their research endeavors.

If elected to the Executive Council, Dr. Javed would like to focus his efforts towards achieving five goals.

  1. Increasing alumni engagement by arranging numerous small- and large-scale AKUAANA events, which will integrate faculty from AKUMC as well as non-alum Pakistanis in the North Americas, aimed at strengthening AKUAANA’s relationship with the home institution as well as identifying potential donors to support the association’s activities.
  2. Increasing awareness of parallel career pathways amongst students at AKUMC, including those in academic medicine, industry, health policy, biomedical engineering, hospital administration, etc.
  3. Arranging financial opportunities to support activities of students visiting the North Americas.
  4. Moving to the North Americas can be a daunting task for fresh graduates. Therefore, he would like to set up a training course that smoothens this transition with a focus on early financial stability.
  5. Lastly, he is the first one to admit that in his early years one of the biggest challenges he faced was maintaining a healthy work-life balance. He would like to take initiatives to help alumni in North Americas achieve a better work-life balance and avoid burn out, especially in their early careers.

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Opening of Nominations for AKUAANA Elections, 2019

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Dear Alumni,

On behalf of the AKUAANA Nominations and Elections Committee, (Namirah Jamshed ’96, Habib Chotani ’95, Noor Afshan Khan ’96), I write to announce the start of the AKUAANA election season, 2019.

The following AKUAANA offices are subject to election in this cycle for a two-year term:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer

Details regarding the roles of council members and officers, as well as election eligibility and procedures, are available on the AKUAANA website. Nominees must be AKUAANA Active Members (Annual or Lifetime) for a minimum of twelve months prior to the election.

All voting will be conducted through our website at akuaana.org. Only Active Members will be eligible to vote; Associate and Honorary Members are not eligible for nomination or voting. The detailed process will be emailed to all members prior to the start of the voting date.

April 4 – June 3, 2019: NOMINATIONS OPEN

Nominations will open at 12:00 AM (EST) on April 4th, 2019.

All nominations should be sent to the chair of the Nominations and Election Committee, Namirah Jamshed at president@akuaana.org, with a CC to secretary@akuaana.org. Once the Nominations and Elections Committee has confirmed the nomination, it will be posted to the AKUAANA website. Self-nominations are welcome.

Candidates for election are encouraged to send a brief biography or position statement to the election committee at president@akuaana.org with a CC to secretary@akuaana.org. Position statements and the candidate’s profile will be posted on the AKUAANA website for eligible voters to examine.

June 3, 2019: NOMINATIONS CLOSE

Nominations will officially close at 11:59 PM (EST) on June 3rd, 2019, though Alumni are encouraged to please submit their nominations before noon on June 3rd, 2019 – thank you!

NOTE: All times above are listed in US Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5).

Namirah Jamshed, ’96
President AKUAANA
2018 – 19

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AKU Alumna Uzma Yunus (1995) Passes Away

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Dear AKU family,

It is with great sorrow that we share the news that Dr. Uzma Yunus, ’95 has passed away. She leaves behind her husband Dheeraj Raina and two children, Shuja and Gauri.

Inspiration to many, Uzma became the strength to not just those suffering from breast cancer but anyone struggling with life. Through her story, she connected with others with stories to tell. She believed that “humans are designed to connect”. A daughter, wife, mother, doctor, and a patient, she shares her resilience and journey with breast cancer in her book “Left Boob Gone Rogue”. One of her last wishes was for us to read her book.

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Uzma was a pillar of strength and hope for many, and will continue to be. She will be missed dearly.

May her soul rest in peace.

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ‎

Namirah Jamshed, ’96
Habib Chotani, ’95
Noor Afshan, ’96
Faisal Cheema, ’00

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AKU MC Alumni Brunch – Winter 2019

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Dr Adil Haider, Class of ’98 and Dean of AKU Medical College, is pleased to host an event for the AKUMC alumni at AKU, Karachi on January 3, 2019. The event includes campus tours for alumni and their families followed by brunch with friends and faculty.

If you are interested in attending the event, kindly register by completing this brief form. Please note that the last date to register for the Alumni Brunch – Winter 2019 is Sunday, December 30, 2018.

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Featured Alumnus: Dr. Abrar Qureshi, AKU ’93

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As part of the 25-year anniversary celebrations for the Class of 1993, we are pleased to highlight Abrar Qureshi. As you will see from the conversation below, Abrar is another star alumnus and brings another level of community service. We are very excited to present this profile to you.

Faisal Qureshi, ’93
Past President, 2016 – 17

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Dr. Abrar Qureshi

1. Give me a quick summary of what you do exactly?

I am currently Professor and Chair, Department of Dermatology, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, and Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown School of Public Health – my time is split in the four main areas of academic medicine, including administrative (managing the operational and fiscal affairs of a department and interacting with a physician-led faculty practice plan as well as three hospital systems), clinical care (my special interest lies in auto-immune and inflammatory skin diseases), teaching (we have our own dermatology residency program, research fellows and lots of interest from medical students) and research (mainly molecular epidemiology in human studies, bridging clinical research and basic science).

2. What aspects of your education in AKU helped you the most in deciding your future trajectory? What skills did AKU help you develop to help you succeed now?

Looking back, there seem to be three facets of AKU education that have facilitated my career. First, our medical training was rigorous, both in terms of breadth (covered all aspects of medical specialties) and depth (emphasis on attention to detail). That training certainly has helped bring gravitas to every day clinical care and I think distinguishes all of us as thoughtful and deliberate clinicians. Second, we were ingratiated with pure grit – the expectations were so high and odds seemingly insurmountable that we became familiar with adversity and I think at times welcomed challenging situations. This has ensured dogged persistence in the face of adversity! Third, we had so much material and information thrown at us simultaneously that we became outstanding at multitasking while able to deliver on specific tasks along the way, an important skill set to have.

3. Success in academics is often associated with publications and you seem to have developed a good mechanism to continuously publish. Is there a secret?

Maintaining excitement about a disease area or disease process can certainly drive research interests and publications – there is nothing more inspiring than identifying a specific problem/question in the clinical setting, then going back to the lab to look for focused answers and come back to the bedside with life-style altering measures or therapeutic insights. This usually happens when least expected – could be an observation after seeing a small group of patients respond to an off-label therapy or managing an adverse outcome of therapy. However, keeping an open mind and developing a sensitive nose for these opportunities is vital.
The other secret to success on publications is attracting and mentoring smart young people (who are much smarter than you!). In order to train the rising stars, you do need to provide the environment with resources that enable success, e.g. IRB support for clinical researchers or core services for basic scientists. Mentoring junior faculty and fellows/residents keeps me at the cutting edge. I feel constantly challenged. The challenges lead into novel projects followed by development of new insights. If you are really fortunate and it all comes together, you may also end up publishing highly cited and high impact manuscripts!

4. You have been involved with many relief efforts across the world. Tell me more about that? What type of work do you do?

A few years back, as the Syrian crisis unfolded, my wife Laura and I wanted to help, to do something, anything. A number of dominoes fell at the right time, including a meeting with Dr. Hisham Al-Khunkun who had trained in medicine in Amman, Jordan and had worked in the refugee camps himself. Around the same time, we learned about the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). Then I was off to my first mission trip to Amman, Jordan with SAMS in January 2016! As the refugees have been displaced for a few years, there was a major need for management of chronic conditions, including in mental health, dermatology, women’s health and primary care. It was a somewhat scary but fulfilling trip, where about 60+ physicians, dentists and nurses came together from all around the US and the world to work together. The morale was great and camaraderie was heart-warming! SAMS (see below) presence on the ground was impressive and I was at a refugee camp within hours of landing in Amman.

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While I have worked with SAMS, Laura and the kids have worked with two other NGO’s on the ground in Jordan, volunteering in makeshift camps, typically situated 2-5 miles from the Syrian border – see below (Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) and United Muslim Relief (UMR)).

5. Your family has been very active with these efforts? What lessons have they learned and how can other families emulate your work?

Unplanned and unexpected, the humanitarian work has had an impact on our children. We have been back for two more trips and Laura suggested that we take our children.
The experience of working in the camps and interacting with other children their age was eye-opening for our teenagers, Afnaan, Daanish and Faizaan. Initial surprise and disappointment quickly transformed into hope and problem-solving. An important lesson they have learned is that when asked if they want or need something, displaced children do not ask for material ‘things’. Instead they want to be treated as just another child anywhere in the world, to play, and to listen to as well as tell their stories. In response, Afnaan and Daanish have co-founded a non-profit ‘Zumaan.com’ (implying ‘time’ or ‘era’) to enable displaced children anywhere to send in their stories via audio recordings. Even our younger children Iliyaan (11) and Zaahra (5) came back asking lots of questions, some of which we could not provide any answers.
We have been fortunate to have traveled safely and back a few times. Initially, it was a bit awkward explaining to people that we were taking all our children along on the trips – the immediate question always was, how do you know it is safe? Now that we have contacts on the ground, we would be glad to share any information we can to allow other families to be able to partake in this humanitarian work.

6. If an AKU grad wanted to get involved with your work, what should they do? How do they prepare and how can they reach you?

As a family we have worked with three organizations over the last couple of years, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) and United Muslim Relief (UMR). These organizations all have excellent presence on the ground, and have specific areas of focus. SAMS provides timely and much needed high quality medical care and medicines within the larger UNHCR managed camps as well as through local health clinics across Jordan. HHRD and UMR provide humanitarian assistance spanning basic necessities of living such as shelter, food and clothing, as well as education and rehabilitation. All our work thus far through these three organizations has been with Syrian refugees in Jordan, although we have plans to visit Bangladesh in the near future.
Our goal has been to be useful and helpful when we arrive at a refugee camp. Planning ahead and learning about the non-profits we were going to work with was very important a priority. We also had to know the rules various organizations work under, e.g. to work with SAMS as a physician, you need to be registered with the health authorities in Jordan long before arrival. Fortunately all the planning and research before each trip was very productive and helped prepare us well for the situation on the ground. We would be delighted to share this information if there is interest among the alumni.
We would welcome AKU alumni reaching out to each of these organizations and offer their help – I would also be personally delighted to connect our alumni with specific individuals at each of these incredible organizations. We would also love to learn about similar humanitarian work that other alumni are engaged in so that more opportunities are available to all of us. Much is needed and we can do very little individually, but collectively we can really have a major impact. Although we have felt overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the problems during and after each trip, there has some solace in the grateful smiles we were greeted with at each camp we visited and the relationships we forged with other volunteers from around the world.

7. How would you like to see AKUAANA engage with alumni? What aspects of an alumni association are most important to you?

I am glad we have a vibrant alumni organization and kudos to you and others who have worked hard behind the scenes to make it happen! It is helpful to see AKUAANA helping connect us as a group, despite alumni now located all over the world. Couple of thoughts and resources that would not be very costly but may help bring us together in the real world:

1. Develop opportunities to volunteer/give back to non-AKU opportunities: It may be helpful to have a number of volunteer opportunities around the world (including Pakistan) where alumni can choose to volunteer. To get the ball rolling, I would suggest a brief one question survey of volunteer work alumni are engaged – this would help catalog a series of opportunities while simultaneously identifying a couple of leaders/resources for each opportunity. AKUAANA could be the hub for coordinating this effort!

2. Develop opportunities to volunteer/give back to AKU: We can create opportunities for alumni to volunteer in specific areas to boost AKU’s and other related organizations (e.g. AKF, AKRSP). Alumni could volunteer in their areas of interest that also fulfill AKU needs, such as development/advancement, education, research etc. To begin this process, a first step may be to begin formal conversations between the AKUAANA and AKU leadership, identify possibilities and set priorities before reaching out to the alumni to volunteer.

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The AKUAANA website will feature an AKU alumnus from the classes celebrating their 20th, 25th and 30th year anniversary, over the year. Our aim is for profiles to highlight various aspects of alumni careers/lives – academic and research, clinical, private practice, political achievements, social activism, philanthropy etc.

Profiles of other alumni highlighted on the website over the time can be viewed under the “Featured Alumni” category.

In order to nominate someone or self-nominate, send your nomination and information by email to president@akuaana.org

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AKUAANA announces first recipients of AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship

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The Aga Khan University Alumni Association of North America is proud to announce the first two recipients of the AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship.

Congratulations, Afshan Akhtar and Faryal Subhani for being the first recipients of this scholarship. Afshan and Faryal will spend 8 weeks in the US for electives and receive mentorship from AKUMC Alumni. Prior to these electives, they will spend 4 weeks in an underserved area in Pakistan. Please join us in welcoming and congratulating these two outstanding students.

AKUAANA would also like to recognize our alumni, the selection committee members, for this year’s scholarship. Thank you Faiz Bhora ’92 (Past President, AKUAANA), Fahim Rahim ’97 (JRM), Naeem Rahim ’98 (JRM), and Ammar Javed ’13, for your time and commitment.

We look forward to receiving applications for the academic year 2019-2020.

Namirah Jamshed
President, AKUAANA (2018-19)

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Establishing the AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship Fund

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Dear Alumni,

We are delighted to announce the AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship Fund for AKUMC students on Financial Aid that are seeking electives in North America. This fund has been made possible by a partnership between AKUAANA and the JRM Foundation for Humanity, a philanthropic organization established by two of our own alumni, Dr. Fahim Rahim, ’97 and Dr. Naeem Rahim, ’98.

Many AKU alumni have had the opportunity to do electives in the US as AKUMC students and remember these rotations as invigorating and eye-opening academic experiences. However, many others with otherwise excellent transcripts have faced significant financial constraints and have not availed these opportunities. The AKUAANA-JRM Scholarship Fund will provide financial support to such students seeking electives in North America in the future.

Students being awarded scholarships will be asked to spend 4 weeks of their final year electives rotation at an under-served site in Pakistan and will be provided an amount of $2500 per awardee to defray expenses related to additional electives they arrange in North America. In addition to financial support, we will link these AKUMC students to alumni in North America to provide mentor-ship, advice and career guidance.

The JRM Foundation will provide $25,000 to AKUAANA to administer this scholarship fund initially and will make available an additional $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match for any funds raised by us.

Please contact us at secretary@akuaana.org if you are interested in mentoring or would like to help in any other way.

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Annual Alumni Meeting, 2018

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Dear Alumni,

A large number of AKU alumni and their families gathered in July at the APPNA 41st Annual Convention, 2018 at the stately Anatole Hilton in Dallas, Texas. The Executive Council presented their reports in the AKUAANA General Body Meeting. Minutes of the General Body Meeting are available on the website.

The General Body Meeting was followed by the AKUAANA Annual Dinner which was attended by more than 200 alumni and spouses and featured milestone celebrations of Classes of AKU ‘88, AKU ‘93 and AKU ‘98. The Class of ‘88 celebrated its 30-year milestone. It was inspiring to have members of our first graduating class present at the meeting. Dr. Shahid Shafi spoke passionately and eloquently at the dinner and challenged us to reach our maximal potential.

We had more than 20 alumni each from the class of ’93 and class of ’98 attend and celebrate their 25-year and 20-year milestones respectively. Both classes announced gifts of $250,000, each, to AKU to mark this occasion.

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Dr. Ayesha Mian ’88 the Dean of Students, Mr. Abdul Haq Wahedna from Alumni Affairs and Mr. Shaikh Ali Hussain from Resource Development represented AKU at the meeting and hosted a well-attended breakfast for AKU alumni the morning after the dinner.

Many of us were meeting for the first time after graduating from AKU. We were struck at how comfortable we felt interacting with old friends and colleagues and how the years just fell away as if we had never been apart. Spouses and families were equally involved, and it was great to see our children forming their own ties of friendship. A silent auction of artwork by our own graduates raised funds for philanthropic causes.

We look forward to seeing many more of you at the next AKUAANA Annual Meeting during the APPNA 42nd Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida in July 2019.

Our best regards,

Namirah Jamshed, President
Noor Afshan, Secretary
Faisal Cheema, Treasurer

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