PhD in Health Sciences

The PhD programme in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at AKU is central to its mission of producing research-based knowledge that is relevant to the developing world and will have impact. The programme is accredited by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan.

It is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programme in health sciences with four specialities/streams: Biological Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Nursing and Population and Public Health

The programme aims to produce innovative scientists, scholars, and educators with the strong potential to become leaders in academia, government, or industry. They will gain solid academic competence obtained from in-depth course work and develop state-of-the-art experimental skills as a result of varied research experiences.

Monthly

Stipend

Merit-Based Tuition Waiver

Funds Support up to $5000

1. Biological Sciences

Doctoral training in this stream aims to strengthen the candidate’s knowledge in areas including anatomy, biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, microbiology, pharmacology and physiology as per their expertise. We offer core as well as stream specific courses that allow candidate to enhance their discipline specific knowledge.  

2. Clinical Sciences

Clinical research involves interactions with patients, diagnostic clinical materials or data, or populations in the following areas: (1) disease mechanisms (etiopathogenesis); (2) clinical knowledge, detection, diagnosis and natural history of disease; (3) therapeutic interventions including clinical trials of drugs, devices and instruments; (4) translational research; (5) behavioural research. This may also include health services research, including outcomes, and cost-effectiveness. Doctoral-level training in clinical sciences will strengthen candidate knowledge in a specific clinically important area with applications of research methodologies for conducting diverse clinical research.  

3. Nursing

The focus of this stream is to provide candidates with a rigorous training in research that is offered through coursework and 1-1 mentorship. The programme aims to develop clinical scholars and academics who are capable of scientific inquiry for innovative practice and knowledge development, with a focus on human health caring. Candidates will be required to produce an original piece of research that is important for human health from the perspective of nursing. 

4. Population and Public Health 

To meet growing needs of well-trained and qualified public health professionals, The program employs multidisciplinary approaches in research and training to identify and address local, national and global public health challenges. The overall goal of this initiative is to develop the scientific evidence and workforce for the promotion of health and well-being in populations, through research initiatives and service delivery to the communities.   

Our doctoral program is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of candidates such as health professionals, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, social and behavioral scientists, environmental scientists and health administrators with an interest in population health. The programme provides a broad knowledge of population and public health through courses and in-depth studies. During thesis, students pursue scientific discovery on diverse public health matters such as Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, Childhood Vaccination, Community Empowerment Strategies, Unintentional Injuries, Nutrition Friendly School Initiatives and Health System Cost for Universal Health Coverage. Through advanced training in research and public health, students are prepared for leadership in academia along with opportunities for personal and professional development.   

There are many opportunities for interaction and mentorship with experienced local and international faculty members and professionals for pursuing impactful research.

The PhD programme is based on a total of 18 credits of coursework to be covered in the initial phase of the programme, followed by a period of three to four years assigned for original research. Upon completion of the coursework, confirmation for PhD candidacy will be based on passing the comprehensive examination and successful defence of the research proposal.

The timelines and other details of the PhD programme for full-time students will be as follows:

Year 1 and Year 2

Compulsory 14-credit Core Courses and Laboratory / Field experience;
4-credit Electives;
Preparation of a presentation on the proposed research and its evaluation by a committee;
Comprehensive exam (written + oral);
Written and oral presentation of the thesis synopsis and its defence in an open forum;
Confirmation of PhD candidacy based on obtaining a minimum CGPA of 3.0 in the PhD coursework; passing the comprehensive exam; successful thesis synopsis defence.

Year 3 and Year 4

Research on the approved project;
Completion of Research Work and Thesis, as per AKU policy.

Coursework
The coursework will comprise of:

Compulsory Core Courses: These will be based on eight credits and will be offered during the Spring semester. These are essential for all students.
Discipline-specific Core Courses: These will be based on a minimum of six credits and will be offered during the Spring and Fall semesters. These courses are essential for all students in that discipline.
Elective courses: Different elective courses will be available to students from which they can choose the ones related to their interest/specialty. These minimum four credit elective courses will be taken during the Spring/Fall semester. However, students may take core courses of other disciplines as their electives, which would need to be taken as and when offered by the concerned department.

Research Work

The basic research work for the Thesis will proceed in parallel with the Core and Elective coursework. Hence, at the time of enrolment the student will select a Principal Thesis Supervisor, and formulate a research project during Year 1. When developing the protocol / proposal, approval from the Ethics Review Committee will be required for research on human subjects and/or animals.
The research project of a PhD (Health Sciences) student, leading to a thesis and the award of the PhD degree, will follow the AKU policy.

	Name	Position Title	Email
1	Dr Ambrin Fatima	Assistant Professor, Biological and Biomedical Sciences	ambrin.fatima@aku.edu
2	Dr Afsar Mian	Assistant Professor, Centre for Regenerative Medicine	afsar.mian@aku.edu
3	Dr Ashar Malik	Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences	ashar.malik@aku.edu
4	Dr Bushra Amin	Assistant Professor, Biological and Biomedical Sciences	bushra.amin@aku.edu
5	Dr Kiran Iqbal	Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Director, Biological Sciences Stream, FHS PhD Programme	kiran.iqbal@aku.edu
6	Dr Kulsoom Khadija Ghias	Associate Professor and Chair,  Biological and Biomedical Sciences	kulsoom.ghias@aku.edu
7	Dr Laila Ladak	Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Nursing and Midwifery Director, Nursing Stream, FHS PhD Programme	laila.ladak@aku.edu
8	Dr Najeeha Talat Iqbal	Assistant Professor & Vice Chair, Biological and Biomedical Sciences	najeeha.iqbal@aku.edu
9	Dr Rubina Barolia	Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Nursing & Midwifery	rubina.barolia@aku.edu
10	Dr Rozina Karmaliani	Professor, School of Nursing & Midwifery and Community Health Sciences Associate Director, Brain and Mind Institute	rozina.karmaliani@aku.edu
11	Dr Rozina Nuruddin	Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences Director, Population & Public Health Stream, FHS PhD Programme	rozina.nuruddin@aku.edu
12	Dr Rumina Hasan	Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine	rumina.hasan@aku.edu
13	Dr Saara Muddasir Khan	Assistant Professor, Biological and Biomedical Sciences	saara.muddasir@aku.edu
14	Dr Sayed Ali Raza Shah Bukhari	Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine	aliraza.bukhari@aku.edu
15	Dr Shehla Zaidi	Professor and Section Head, Community Health Sciences	shehla.zaidi@aku.edu
16	Dr Syed Adnan Ali	Assistant Professor, Surgery	Syed.adnan@aku.edu
17	Dr Syed Ather Enam	Professor, Surgery	ather.enam@aku.edu
18	Dr Tazeen Saeed Ali	Associate Professor and Interim Dean, School of Nursing and Midwifery	tazeen.ali@aku.edu
19	Dr Uzma Rahim Khan	Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine	uzma.khan@aku.edu
20	Dr Waqasuddin Khan	Assistant Professor, Paediatrics & Child Health	waqasuddin.khan@aku.edu
21	Dr Yawer Saeed	Assistant Professor, Medicine Director, Clinical Sciences Stream, FHS PhD Programme	yawer.saeed@aku.edu
22	Dr Zahra Hasan	Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Director, FHS PhD Programme	zahra.hasan@aku.edu