Award of Excellence in Research
Dr Anita Kaniz Mehdi Zaidi
This year, the University has the honour of presenting the Award of Excellence in Research to Dr Anita Zaidi.
Dr
Anita Zaidi is a unique individual. She received her undergraduate
medical education as a member of the first graduating class at the Aga
Khan University in 1988 and was the first recipient of the Medical
College’s Best Graduate Award.
After graduating, Dr Zaidi spent
a year in community research work in Pakistan’s Northern Areas (now
Gilgit-Baltistan). She then proceeded to the United States for further
training and acquired a first-rate grounding in paediatrics,
microbiology, infectious diseases and epidemiology at Duke University
and Harvard University. An award from the Aga Khan Foundation and
research awards from the US Paediatric Infectious Diseases Society and
Harvard University supported her in this training.
In 2002, Dr Zaidi left a faculty position at Harvard to return to Pakistan and to her alma mater – Aga Khan University.
On
the basis of her remarkable abilities, energy and commitment, Dr Zaidi
went on to become one of the youngest full professors at AKU. In
September 2010 she assumed the position of Chair of the Department of
Paediatrics and Child Health. In January 2011, the University awarded
her an endowed Chair, the Ruby and Karim Bahudur Ali Jessani, Professor
and Chair, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Over the
course of the last decade as a member of faculty AKU, Dr Zaidi has been
at the forefront of world-class research. Her research projects are
dedicated to defining low-cost solutions to reduce the high burden of
newborn and child deaths associated with infectious diseases in the
developing world. Her current research grant support exceeds US$8
million and includes, as principal or senior investigator, grants from
the National Institutes of Health, USA, the World Health Organization,
the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, and several
initiatives funded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Many
of you will know that Dr Zaidi and her research have once again been in
the news. It was very recently announced that she was recipient of the
Caplow Children’s Prize. This research award is a $1 million grant
directed to projects that are “...aimed at saving the greatest number of
children’s lives in the most impactful, credible, and cost-effective
way.” Dr Zaidi was this year’s winner of this prize in a competition
that saw almost 600 entries, including eight finalists. The project
associated with the award her project will focus on reducing child
mortality rates in the town of Rehri Goth, on the outskirts of Karachi.
Dr
Zaidi is a very well-published researcher with over 100 research
papers, reviews, monographs and invited chapters to her credit. She
authored the chapter on Diagnostic Microbiology in the last four
editions of Nelson’s Textbook of Paediatrics, the premier reference
textbook for paediatricians globally. She is the only woman from a
developing country to have a chapter in Nelson’s, and only one of two
developing country scientists of either gender to have this honour.
Her
work on vaccine preventable infections has also been recognised at
various international forums – she was invited to deliver the Fred Soper
Memorial Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Philadelphia, USA, in December 2011.
Dr
Zaidi chose to speak about polio eradication in Pakistan, delivering
such an eloquent and impassioned address that she received a standing
ovation from the large audience present.
Dr Zaidi is committed to
developing research capacity at AKU. Through student and faculty
mentorship in the Department she has developed a solid base of young
investigators that will continue to strengthen and lead the Department
and AKU’s research agenda well into the future. The Department of
Paediatrics and Child Health is a unique academic clinical department at
AKU, with one-third of all faculty members in the research track
receiving funding from competitive external sources and enjoying
protected time for research.
Returning to Dr Zaidi’s graduation
as a member of the first MBBS class, in a recent article in The Lancet,
it is interesting to note what she remembers most about her graduation –
it was something the Chancellor said at the ceremony. His Highness’
simple message was “Serve Pakistan”. And that's what Zaidi has tried to
do in her research.
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