Pakistani scientists elected to world health biotechnology body

In this file photo, Dr. Abid Azhar is receiving a souvenir from speaker Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khoro in Karachi. Azhar has been elected as member of steering committee of Eastern Mediterranean Health Genomics and Biotechnology Network. – Photo by Suhail Yusuf / Dawn.com KARACHI: A prominent Pakistani scientist, Prof. Abid Azhar, Co-Director General at Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE) at University of Karachi along with Dr. Anwar Nasim, Advisor Science, COMSTECH Islamabad has been elected as member of the Steering Committee of Eastern Mediterranean Health Genomics and Biotechnology Network (EMHBGN). The elections of the Second Steering Committee of EMHBGN were held in Tehran, Iran in December last year in electronic mode and its results were evaluated and confirmed by EMGEN International Observer Committee and were announced recently. The Steering Committee of the EMHBGEN network comprises senior health scientists and researchers of the region. It is responsible for advising on policy and strategic directions, establishing priorities for research and development, and overseeing implementation and evaluation. Eastern Mediterranean Health Genomics and Biotechnology Network (EMHGBN) was created in 2004 for representatives of selected centres of excellence in health-related Molecular Biology, Biotechnology & Genomics in the Eastern Mediterranean Region on the recommendation of WHO. Besides two Pakistani scientists, amongst those who were elected as Steering Committee members are Dr. Abdel Nasser A. El-Moghazy, Al-Azhar University, Egypt, Dr. Ali Haeri, Shahid Beheshti University of Iran, Prof. Dr. Fereidoun Mahboudi, Pasteur Institute of Iran and Director Biotechnology Network of Iran, Prof. Dr. Karam Karam, Minister of Tourism and Alternate Minister of Health, Lebanon, Dr. Manal Mansour Bouhaimed, Faculty of Medicine-Kuwait University, Kuwait, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hassar, Director, Pasteur Institute of Morocco Casablanca, Morocco and Dr. Shaikha Salim Al Arrayed, Head of Genetics Department, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain. The overseer committee recommended Dr. Anwar Nasim as EMHBGEN Steering Committee chairperson for the next term. – PPI