July 11, 2024

President’s Message

Rather than an island of excellence, AKU has always aspired to be a force for change. The last several months have brought fresh evidence that the University is achieving this goal. Newborn care in Kenya, important medical education regulations in Pakistan, teacher licensing in Sindh and many other aspects of health and education are being shaped by our faculty and staff in collaboration with government and other partners. People recognize that AKU is a national asset and are turning to us for assistance in dealing with a range of challenges. 

2024 has also demonstrated that the University’s capacity for impact is recognized far beyond the borders of its home countries. Our research on climate change and health, aging and dementia, malaria and other fields has received significant support from globally renowned institutions such as the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our faculty, staff and graduates have been honoured with numerous awards from leading organizations such as the American Academy of Neurology and the U.S.-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education International. 

As it enters its fifth decade, AKU continues to expand and evolve with the help of its donors, volunteers, partners and advocates. Already this year, we have launched four new degree programmes. Construction is progressing on our campus in Kampala, where our newly inaugurated Nakawa Specialty Centre is providing access to advanced diagnostics and medical expertise. In Karachi, we upgraded our multidisciplinary and microscopy laboratories and started work on our largest solar-power project yet. We also established an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging to help ensure that all members of the University community are valued and supported, regardless of their identity. 

AKU’s recent success owes a great deal to the man who served as its Provost for the last seven years. Teaching, learning, research and many other aspects of our work benefitted immensely from Carl Amrhein’s determined leadership and steadfast commitment to the Chancellor’s vision. Carl’s retirement on July 1 marked the end of a momentous period in the University’s development. But with the arrival of our new Provost, Tania Bubela, it also marked the start of a promising new era. Most recently the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada, Tania brings to AKU a remarkable record as a leader, researcher and educator. We are fortunate to have an academic of her stature serving as our Provost.

AKU’s 40th anniversary year is now behind us. But the University’s rich history continues to inspire us. Indeed, it is now the subject of an engaging and handsomely illustrated book, A Vision Made Real: The Story of the Aga Khan University. I look forward to sharing it with you soon, and to working with all of you to write the next chapter in the AKU saga.

Gifts Support Facilities, Scholarships

Specialty Centre Opens in Kampala

The Nakawa Specialty Centre became the first facility on AKU’s new Kampala campus to open. The Centre offers everything from chemotherapy to CT scans plus access to a wide array of specialists. The building that houses the Centre has been named the Aziz and Zubeda Manji Building in honour of the donors who provided a generous gift to enable its construction. Read More

Karachi Gets State-of-the-Art Laboratories

Researchers and students will benefit from a major upgrade of the Multidisciplinary and Microscopy Laboratories in Karachi, which now meet Biosafety Level 2 standards. The state-of-the-art laboratories were renovated with the support of a generous donor. Read More

Gift Provides Scholarships for Dental Hygienists

A generous donation from Rahman Kanji and his family will provide scholarships for at least 10 students pursuing their Associate of Science in Dental Hygiene. AKU launched the ASDH programme in 2015 to help address the oral-health crisis in Pakistan, which has some of the highest rates of oral cancer and periodontal disease in the world.

Achieving Excellence

AKU Ranks in Top 5% for Health Impact

AKU was ranked #55 out of nearly 1,500 universities globally by Times Higher Education for its contributions to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3. Goal 3 seeks to significantly reduce deaths from childhood, infectious and non-communicable diseases, achieve universal health coverage and more. Read More

VRW Episode Wins Award

An episode from AKU’s documentary series Voices from the Roof of the World won the Best Short Documentary Film award at the 13th Nepal European Union Film Festival. “Dhye Dreams” follows three women as they deal with the impact of declining water levels in Upper Mustang, Nepal. Read More

AKU Research Honoured in Dubai

AKU received the Zairi International Award of Excellence for Research Impact from the Dubai-based Center for Learning Innovations and Customized Knowledge Solutions. Read More

Audit Department Tops in Kenya

The Internal Audit Department was named Kenya’s top internal auditor among nonprofit institutions by the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Kenya Chapter. Read More

Working with the Public Sector

Influencing Medical Standards in Pakistan

Numerous accreditation standards and curriculum guidelines for medical and dental colleges and teaching hospitals that AKU faculty helped to develop over three years were approved by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. AKU also helped the Council to obtain accreditation from the World Federation for Medical Education as one of four medical schools inspected during the accreditation process. Accreditation helps Pakistan’s medical graduates to pursue training opportunities abroad. Meanwhile, the University agreed to help create a manual of clinical practice guidelines for the Army Medical Corps and its medical centres, many of which care for both military personnel and civilians.

Saving Newborns in Kenya

AKU is part of an ambitious $65 million project that aims to reduce newborn deaths by 50 percent in nearly 150 hospitals across Africa. Faculty are leading the project in Kenya, where 13 public hospitals in 10 counties have received an array of technologies and training to improve newborn care. Read More

A Landmark for Teacher Licensing in Pakistan

4,000 teachers took Sindh’s first teaching license test, the culmination of an extensive collaboration between AKU’s Institute for Educational Development and the Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority. Licensing will help to ensure that children are taught by skilled teachers. Read More

Eliminating Malaria in Pakistan

With the backing of the GLIDE Foundation, faculty established a Malaria Elimination Consortium to help eliminate malaria by 2035 from Pakistan, where cases surged following the 2022 floods. The consortium brings together top government health officials and experts from AKU, NOVA University Lisbon and Oxford University. Read More

AKU Strengthens Partnership with Kilifi

AKU and Kilifi County signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable research and training collaborations. “Kilifi County and AKU have a long-standing relationship that has benefitted the community in many areas, such as youth, sports, gender, health, education, research and training,” said County Governor Gideon Mung’aro. Read More

Creating Knowledge

Major Brain Health Project Gets Underway

In Kenya, the Brain and Mind Institute will explore how stressors such as illness and poverty affect people’s brains as they age, while also seeking to identify factors that preserve brain health. The study is being funded by Wellcome Leap and the Temasek Trust through their Dynamic Resilience Program. Read More

Testing a Gene-Blocking Cancer Drug

The Clinical Research Unit in Nairobi is the only center in Africa participating in a clinical trial of a gene-blocking drug developed by Switzerland-based Roche to treat certain lung, colon and other cancers. Read More

Women are Underrepresented in East African Media

Forty percent of the top stories in East Africa’s newspapers do not mention a single woman, according to The State of Women in the Media, a comprehensive, 49-page study by the Graduate School of Media and Communications. Read More

Improving Teacher Education in Pakistan

A new book by Vice Provost for Asia and the UK Anjum Halai – Teaching and Teacher Education in Pakistan – offers research-based recommendations for improving classroom instruction and teacher education in the world’s fifth-most populous country. Read More

The Story of HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Horatius Musembi Malilu of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa is one of five co-authors of a book on the history of HIV/AIDS in Kenya and the challenges facing those working to halt the spread of the disease today. Read More

New Degrees Launched

The ISMC PhD Programme

Building on the success of its MA in Muslim Cultures, the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations launched its first doctoral-degree programme. Students can pursue a PhD in either history or political science at the Institute’s London campus. Read More

The MA in Strategic Communications

The Graduate School of Media and Communications launched its third master’s degree programme, the two-year Master of Arts in Strategic Communications. It aims to help young and mid-career professionals to achieve professional success, advance the interests of their organizations and serve society by communicating effectively in multiple media. Read More

The MSc in Health Care Management

The new Master of Science in Health Care Management will provide current and prospective hospital and health facility managers from diverse backgrounds with the skills they need to lead high-performing health care institutions. Read More

The Bachelor of Education

For the first time in its history, AKU’s Institute for Educational Development, Pakistan is offering an initial teaching degree. The 1.5-year Bachelor of Education will prepare aspiring and early career teachers to provide students with an outstanding education. In Sindh, teachers must have a BEd to be licensed under the province’s new licensing scheme. Read More

New Leaders Appointed

Simon Fraser Dean Appointed Provost

Following an extensive international search, Tania Bubela was appointed AKU’s next Provost and Vice President, Academic. Bubela was most recently professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada. With a PhD in biology from the University of Sydney and a law degree from the University of Alberta, she has held academic positions at Simon Fraser, the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto across four faculties, clerked for a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and published more than 100 articles in leading law, ethics and scientific journals. She takes over from Provost Carl Amrhein. Read More

Brown University Scholar Appointed ISMC Dean

Renowned scholar Shahzad Bashir became Dean of the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations on June 1. Bashir was previously a full professor at Brown University, where he served as Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, and at Stanford University. He holds a PhD in religious studies from Yale University and is the author of five books and numerous articles on poetry, Sufism, Shi’ism, messianic movements and other subjects. He takes over as Dean from Professor Leif Stenberg. Read More

Exam Board Gets New CEO

Dr Naveed Yousuf was appointed CEO of the AKU Examination Board. Dr Yousuf was Associate Director of Assessment and Research at the Board for seven years, and most recently Chair of the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Department for Educational Development. He holds a PhD in medical education from Italy’s Ambrosiana University, completed a fellowship in medical education at the University of Illinois Chicago, and has an MBA from the Institute of Business Management, Karachi.

Focusing on Climate Change

Solar to Provide 10% of Stadium Road’s Power

AKU’s largest solar power project to date will bring an additional 3.3 megawatts of clean energy to its Karachi campus. The project will reduce the University’s carbon emissions by 1,900 tonnes annually, an amount equal to that produced by burning 800,000 litres of petrol. Read More

Maternal and Child Health in a Warming World

With temperatures rising and heatwaves becoming more common in Pakistan, researchers will examine the effect of extreme heat on thousands of pregnant women and their babies. A separate cluster randomized trial will test interventions to help vulnerable populations adapt to a warmer climate. The Wellcome Trust has provided a total of £4 million for the two studies.  Read More

Collaborating With AKDN

AKU and AKES Team Up in Northern Pakistan

Thirty-five school leaders and senior educators from the Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKES) completed a 12-day training course run by AKU’s Institute for Educational Development in Gilgit. The course was designed to help participants to provide professional development opportunities for teachers from AKES schools in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. At a meeting in May in Gilgit attended by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, AKU and AKES leaders committed to collaborating closely to improve education in the region.

Enhancing Access to Health Care

Ten of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi’s outreach medical centres earned the highest level of SafeCare certification, demonstrating that they meet international standards of patient care and safety.

The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi was recertified as a centre of excellence for the management of acute primary stroke by the U.S.-based Joint Commission International. The Hospital remains the only facility in Africa to be so certified.

With the launch of the Aga Khan University Hospital’s home care service, people living in and around Nairobi can receive physiotherapy, chemotherapy, medications, doctor visits and many other health care services at home.

Patients who would like to get a second opinion about their diagnosis and treatment plan from a physician at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi can do so online, from both inside and outside Pakistan.

AKU’s Clifton Medical Centre in Karachi upgraded its urgent care service to a 24-hour satellite emergency department that is ready to care for patients in urgent need of treatment for serious conditions, including life-threatening emergencies.

AKUH, Karachi’s website now allows patients to view physicians’ credentials, specializations, photos and schedules, as well as request an appointment online with the practitioner of their choice.

Novartis Pakistan will provide eligible low-income patients at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi with free cancer medications. The Patients Behbud Society for AKUH will cover other costs associated with their treatment at the hospital.

Serving Afghanistan

FMIC Patient Welfare Sets Record

The Patient Welfare Programme of the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children helped more than 57,000 low-income Afghans to obtain everything from laboratory tests to life-saving surgery last year. The number is an all-time high. It testifies to the generosity of FMIC’s donors and to the extraordinary commitment and resilience of the hospital’s staff and leadership.

Latest PGME Cohort Includes Two Women

The newest cohort of residents at the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children in Kabul includes two women and 12 men. The women are training to become obstetrician-gynaecologists. More residents may join the programme following the next admissions exam in mid-July.

Partnering for Impact

AKU and Maynooth Sign MOU

Princess Zahra Aga Khan and President Shahabuddin visited Maynooth University in Ireland to sign a new partnership agreement that will support knowledge sharing, research collaboration and international learning opportunities for students and staff. The partnership is the first of its kind between AKU and an Irish university. Read More

In Ontario, a Partnership is Renewed

Building on a history of cooperation that dates back to AKU’s inception, the University signed a partnership agreement with McMaster University to enable student and faculty exchanges, co-supervision of PhD students and other forms of collaboration. “There is much we can learn from each other, and much we can do together to build healthier, stronger communities globally,” said McMaster President David Farrar. Read More

Individual Honours & Awards

Numerous faculty, staff, alumni and trustees have earned honours, awards and prestigious appointments in recent months from institutions such as the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the University of Alberta, the American Academy of Neurology, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education International, the Media Council of Kenya and the College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan. Click here for a list of the honorees.

Celebrating Landmarks

Founder’s Day Marked, Exhibition Opens in Nairobi

The University celebrated its second annual Founder’s Day and the conclusion of its 40th anniversary year in Nairobi with Princess Zahra Aga Khan and former presidents Shamsh Kassim-Lakha and Firoz Rasul in attendance. As part of its celebrations, AKU opened to the public its 40th Anniversary exhibition, A Transformative Vision, at the University Centre, Nairobi.

Class of 2023 Graduates

More than 730 students in four countries graduated from AKU in February at ceremonies attended by Princess Zahra Aga Khan and other dignitaries, including Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Education, the Honorable Ezekiel Machogu, who read a speech by the President of Kenya, His Excellency William Ruto. The graduates were awarded degrees in almost two dozen fields in nursing, medicine, education, journalism and the study of Muslim civilisations. Watch the Highlights

Did You See…

After showing for 11 weeks at the University Centre in Nairobi, AKU’s 40th Anniversary Exhibition, A Transformative Vision, is being packed up to set sail for its next destination (to be announced soon). Over 2,400 people from diverse backgrounds in East Africa – including government officials, diplomats, donors, students, journalists and many more – visited the showcase of AKU’s development and breadth of impact, inspired by the vision of our founder and Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, and the dedication of countless individuals.

AKU research has attracted $400 million in funding over the past decade and has been cited in more than 400 policy documents issued by the World Health Organization. Learn more about the impact of the University’s research in this new video. You can also read about AKU’s research partnership with the University of Michigan’s Center for Global Health Equity in its new Impact Report.

Also, check out what our medical students in Nairobi had to say on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in this Instagram reel.

Did You Know…

The Aga Khan University Emeritus Professors (AKU-EP) is a new structure led by a steering committee of retired faculty members. It aims to recognize the contributions of emeritus professors, support their continued scholarly activity and provide them with opportunities for ongoing engagement with the University. Dr Robert Armstrong is the Chair, Dr Mohammad Pervaiz Iqbal is the Vice Chair and Dr Rukhsana Zuberi is the Secretary and Treasurer. For more information, contact Dr Armstrong at robert.armstrong@aku.edu.

© Aga Khan University, Office of Strategic Communications

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