Syed Mohammad Jawad Sher (Class of 1997), Assistant Professor of Medicine, has been awarded by the Indiana University Division of Nephrology as “Best Teaching Faculty Member” this year.
AKU Alumnus Arif Sarwari (1989) awarded with prestigious WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching
Arif Sarwari, Associate Professor Medicine at West Virginia University
Arif Sarwari (Class of 1989), Associate Professor of Medicine, is among six inspirational West Virginia University faculty members that have been honored with the 2016 WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching.
“These six professors truly go above and beyond in the classroom, inspiring our students to attain new and exciting knowledge and reach for achievements beyond the ordinary,” said Provost Joyce McConnell. “Their passion for teaching is the rock-solid foundation supporting the exceptional education offered here at WVU.”
The WVU Foundation established the awards in 1985 as a way to celebrate faculty who have established patterns of distinguished teaching and exceptional innovation in teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.
“The WVU Foundation is privileged to be able to annually provide these awards due to the generosity of our donors,” said Cindi Roth, Foundation president and CEO. “WVU is fortunate to have such high caliber faculty. We salute this year’s recipients who are truly super stars in their fields of study.”
Arif Sarwari kindles the flame of curiosity to engage his students as they learn to perform patient exams, take patient histories and make proper health assessments. He respects his students and pays close attention to their needs. He has earned numerous institutional and national awards recognizing his skillful teaching in the classroom, at the bedside and in his practice.
The six honorees will receive a $5000 honorarium from the WVU Foundation and be recognized by WVU President Gordon Gee, Provost McConnell and Cindi Roth at the April 6 faculty and staff awards dinner at Blaney House.
Source: Six earn WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching
AKU alumna Amyna Merchant Sultan (1989) honored with Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
Dr. Amyna Merchant Sultan, a graduate of the University’s Medical College, Class of ’89, has received one of the highest accolades from the British Government. She has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. This announcement was made as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors list that recognizes exceptional achievement or service.
She received this honor in recognition of her services in Medicine, Healthcare and Eye Surgery.
Dr. Sultan practices at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and has served as the Hospital’s Medical Director and Consultant Ophthalmologist since its establishment in 2001. She specializes in cataract, pterygium and corneal surgeries and is also an expert in treating eye infections and inflammatory conditions.
The Order of the British Empire, founded in 1917, recognizes distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services outside the Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organizations of all kinds. Valuable service is the only criterion for the award, and the Order is now used to reward service in a wide range of useful activities. There are more than 100,000 living members of the Order throughout the world.
Official investiture as Order of the British Empire by Princess Anne at Windsor Castle, on July 14, 2015
AKU Alumnus Hamid Bashir (2002) comes in runner-up at APPNA Idol Competition, 2014
Hamid Bashir is from AKU, class of 2002 and currently practices Rheumatology in St. Louis. He enjoys singing and came up with the idea of “Music4Cause”, a platform for spreading his message with meaningful music. Music4Cause is a non-profit forum to raise voice against torture, war and terror in the world especially in third world countries. It is particularly geared towards creating meaningful music. Hamid takes inspiration from Shoaib Mansoor, Salman Ahmad, Nusrat Fateh and Michael Brook.
Hamid participated recently in the APPNA Idol Competition, 2014 in Washington DC as well, and came in runner-up. Way to go Hamid!
Music4Cause’s latest video commemorates Pakistan’s Independence day with music called “Pakistan”, a reprise version of their “Drops of Rain.”
Visit the Music4Cause website to hear more of Hamid’s music and support his message.
Saud Anwar, AKU Alumnus ’91, elected as Mayor of South Windsor, Connecticut
Dr. Saud Anwar
Congratulations to Saud Anwar, an AKU graduate (’91) who has been recently elected as Mayor of South Windsor in Connecticut.
Another AKU graduate blazing a trail…
Anwar is a native of Pakistan, who came to Connecticut via Illinois to study medicine at Yale. He sat down with Where We Live to talk about his faith, his vision for the town, and how he plans to juggle his busy schedule.
His interview can be read, along with an audio recording, here.
Dean, Medical College, AKU named Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences
Dr. Farhat Abbas: Dean, Medical College, AKU
Dr. Farhat Abbas, Dean, Medical College has been named a Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. The Academy, a non-governmental body of distinguished scientists from across Pakistan, serves to advise the government of scientific development in the country. Dr. Abbas’s contribution to the University, the community and the country in the field of clinical practice, medical research and education is exemplary. Members of AKUAANA congratulate Dr. Abbas on this honor.
Message from Saud Anwar, AKU ’91, Chairperson for the Board of Directors of the USPAK Foundation
Dr. Saud Anwar, AKU ’91
There are many AKU Medical Alumni who now call United States our home. As we continue to become more integrated and be a part of the society, it is important to invest in ways to help secure the future of the next generation of community members.
It is no secret that there are ever increasing challenges in the world, as well as in the United States. In these times, it is important to identify ways help advance and empower the Pakistani-American youth. They need to have the skills to be the leaders of the future so that they are in an advantageous position to contribute to the society.
The current and future community members need to have the capacity to work within the public and private sectors, advocate for social justice, be civic participants, identify mechanisms of higher education, and expect equal opportunity and fair treatment. There is a need to cultivate and recognize the strength of our cultural heritage and also work towards community building and advance coalition with other communities.
A group of community members have recognized the ongoing needs and the importance of promoting the ambitions and aspiration of the Pakistani-American community. This acknowledgement resulted in the creation of USPAK Foundation to fulfill the above-mentioned goals.
USPAK Foundation is a 501(c)(3) entity, which is a civic and educational group who is also focused on engaging the Pakistani-American community along with other communities, to help in the integration of the youth to be effective future leaders. As a part of our activities, various youth programs and conferences have been held. We are proud to be one of the only organizations in the Country which has helped to take over 500 youth to observe and interact with members of the legislative and the administrative branches of the government. Over 500 of the youth have visited the White House and have been able to interact with the personnel and people within the White House.
We have setup multiple workshops to have the people learn about excellence and leadership with not only meeting legislators, members of congress and many US president’s administration officials and also various agency officials, but also meet successful entrepreneurs and young professionals who are leaders within their own field. Students have been taken to the Supreme Court as well to learn about our judicial government. Having the students learning skills for success including networking, media communication, public speaking, and leadership training and coalition building have been some of the programs and activities that we have been conducted.
Our generations of AKU graduates need to move towards making sure that the leadership skills that we have learned during our careers are further transferred and taught to our next generations. The challenges the next generation will face are quite different from the ones that we may have faced, it is important to create institutions, which would allow them to be better prepared with the sense of community and stronger network.
I am currently serving as the chairperson for the board of directors of the USPAK Foundation and I would urge members of our own AKU alumni who are in the United States, who have children in high school and colleges to use this entity to make sure that the next generation is able to achieve all possible opportunities and successes. This leadership in United States has to grow not from Washington, D.C. but the communities and that is the reason that we are hoping to create a network of rising leaders within the various parts of the country and also increase the number of charter members for the USPAK Foundation with state based chapters.
To learn more about the Foundation please visit: www.uspakfoundation.org
Or email the Executive Director of USPAK Foundation Mr. Irfan Malik at Ed@USPakFoundation.org
First artificial heart success in Pakistan
Dr. Babar Hasan
Babar Hassan, Class of ’99, returned to AKU last year and is a pediatric interventional cardiologist and intensivist from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Mohammad Ahmed Baloch, the child to survive with an artificial heart. Photo Credit: Express
Read all about it at The Express Tribune.
The Lost Pearl, a novel by Lara Zuberi, AKU ’00
Dr. Lara Zuberi
Lara Zuberi, AKU Alumnus from the class of 2000, hit the pause button on her Hematology/Oncology career and published a novel, The Lost Pearl. The novel is about a Pakistani girl narrated in the first person. “It is not autobiographical, but the mixed emotions evoked after leaving one’s home country are.”
The book is available in paperback for $14.36 at Amazon.
The Kindle edition is for $7.99 at Amazon.
For excerpts, reviews, summary and biography, please visit her website at www.larazuberi.com.
Lara will donate 20 % of the royalty to cancer patients in Pakistan.
Message from the author to fellow AKU grads: “Thank you for keeping the love of reading and the spirit of giving alive.”
Sitara-e-Imtiaz
Dr. Shaista Masood Khan
Dr. Nehal Masood
On the 66th Independence Day of Pakistan, the President of Pakistan has conferred the most prestigious civil award (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) upon The Aga Khan University’s Prof. Shaista Masood Khan (Dept of Surgery) and Associate Prof. Nehal Masood (Department of Oncology and Department of Medicine) in recognition of their exemplary services in the Health sector for the people of Pakistan. This is indeed an extremely proud moment for the University. Congratulations go out to the proud recipients of this award!