eCommons@AKU

Office of Research and Graduate Studies Publications (Newsletters, Reports, etc.)

9-2023

AKU Research 2023

Office of Research and Graduate Studies
Aga Khan University

Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/research_outlook

Recommended Citation
Office of Research and Graduate Studies, "AKU Research 2023" (2023). Office of Research and Graduate
Studies. Book 16.
https://ecommons.aku.edu/research_outlook/16
Contents
1 40 years of research excellence
5 Pioneering study to address
adversity and brain development
6 Multi-gene testing recommended
for hereditary breast cancer
8 IED builds support for malnutrition in Kenya
teacher licensing in Pakistan
12 Grading system developed by
AKU-EB adopted in Pakistan
14 One-quarter of health workers in
Kenyan study show signs of
depression
16 The politics of the veil shape
in interwar Turkey
18 The state of East Africa’s news 32 Clinical trials update
media: confident under pressure
34 AKU innovations earn patents
20 Drug-resistant fungal
infections raise alarm 38 In brief: From new rankings
to new books
23 Researchers identify low-cost
interventions for reducing 42 Research governance,
infrastructure and training
24 Project tests feasibility of 44 Notable publications
ultrasound scans in rural Kenya
52 Numbers
27 Study to examine the gut
microbiome and child health
29 In Tanzania, a living laboratory for
environmental research takes

COVER IMAGE: A cortical organoid. Researchers at AKU’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research are
growing such organoids in order to test potential therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders. See page 39 for details.

CREDITS
Editorial and Design: Office of Research and Graduate Studies and Office of Strategic Communications
Image Credits: Akbar Hakim, Akbar Moeen, Benson Githaiga, Beyer Blinder Belle, Danish Sharif, Hafiz Imtiaz Ahmed, iStock.com/
wilpunt, Maureen Ooko, Paul Kariuki Munene, Peter Pascal, Shabbir Hussen, Shahrukh Sharif, Zahur Ramji and Zoya Surani
Printer: Yaqeen Art Press PVT. Ltd
Research
Excellence
In 1983, the Aga Khan University’s founder and Chancellor, His Highness the
Aga Khan, expressed his goal of making AKU “an international university, able to
mobilise resources from other countries, to coordinate international research
and to encourage the exchange of ideas between nations.” As it celebrates
Sulaiman Shahabuddin its 40th anniversary, the evidence demonstrates the University is achieving

President and Vice-Chancellor this goal. AKU is working on the leading edge of knowledge creation, pursuing
problem-oriented research and demonstrating the “intellectual restlessness” and
“buoyant but disciplined impatience” that His Highness has urged it to express.

Research output Our 40th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the past, present and
future of knowledge creation and innovation at AKU. Overall, the story is one
has grown of remarkable growth. Over the last five years, AKU has received nearly 700
research grants worth $210 million from institutions such as the U.S. National
dramatically Institutes of Health, the European Research Council, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Carl Amrhein Foundation, Gavi, the Wellcome Trust, the Hilton Foundation, the ELMA
Foundation, the Government of Canada and many others. That is four times
Provost and Vice President, the funding and five times the number of grants the University received from
Academic 2000-2004. Research output has also grown dramatically. Faculty published
close to 1,500 papers in peer-reviewed journals in 2022, double the number
published in 2015. The frequency with which scholars at other institutions cite
our faculty’s work has increased seven-fold in a decade. Indeed, a number of
AKU faculty members are among the most highly cited researchers in the world
in their field. Collaboration between our researchers and scientists at other
universities has also increased significantly. To date, faculty have published
studies with colleagues at nearly 150 institutions in more than 40 countries.

Professor Salim S. Virani Is the University mobilizing resources, coordinating international research and
Vice Provost, Research encouraging the exchange of ideas across borders? The answer is a resounding “Yes.”

Proof of the quality of AKU research has come in multiple forms in recent years.
Rankings published by Shanghai Ranking, National Taiwan University and U.S. News
and World Report have placed AKU among the leading universities in Asia and

AKU Research AKU Research 1

 Africa, and among the top universities in the world in medicine and public health
– based largely on its research. Individual faculty and staff have received national
The work of our
and international awards and honours that testify to their scientific prowess. These researchers is
include a Canada Gairdner Award, one of the three most prestigious awards for
health research in the world. Few, if any, private universities that are less than a half- saving lives
century old and located in lower-income countries have achieved such benchmarks.
Growth has also come in the form of an expansion in the number of fields in
which AKU scholars are active. Government and private-sector institutions are
increasingly turning to researchers at the Institute for Educational Development
and the AKU Examination Board for insights and assistance. Faculty at the
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations are publishing volumes on
relations between Christians and Muslims in the early Islamic world, the historic
mosques of Sub-Saharan Africa, gender in interwar Turkey and popular culture
and Islam. They are also working at the frontiers of the digital humanities.
Within the health sciences, AKU scientists are pursuing increasingly
sophisticated laboratory research in cancer, stem-cell science and genetics,
and are active in the fields of child development and mental health. Since the
start of the pandemic, the University has become a sought-after contributor
to international clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines developed by leading
pharmaceutical companies. Innovation has also accelerated, with faculty and
AKU’s staff developing a number of U.S.-patented medical devices, as well as mobile-
phone applications to assist government health workers in rural areas.
appearance on
The launch of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the fall of 2023 will further
global rankings expand the scope of AKU research, as new scholars in the humanities, social
reflects its sciences and natural sciences join the University. So too will the establishment
of the Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Station in Tanzania.
research prowess
With growth has come impact. Working in close partnership with government health
workers and government health facilities, AKU researchers have saved the lives of
AKU Research 2 AKU Research
thousands of women and children in poor and marginalized areas. They have done
so by increasing vaccination rates and demonstrating the effectiveness of new
vaccines, by developing interventions that community health workers can deliver
to people in their homes and by generating data and evidence that policymakers
can use to fight outbreaks of deadly diseases such as typhoid, polio, HIV/AIDS
and COVID-19. The findings generated by such efforts have been published in The
Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and other leading journals, making
them available to scholars worldwide. The global relevance of AKU scholarship
is further demonstrated by the fact that nearly 80 percent of faculty publications
in 2022 were aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In short, if we examine the past, we see that research at AKU has grown
rapidly in volume, quality, diversity, recognition, impact and reach. If we
examine the present, it is clear that the University’s research capacity
is impressive, especially given its youth compared to many universities
and the fact that it operates in resource-limited environments.
What, then, does the future hold for research at AKU? In light of the University’s
past success and present capabilities, it seems quite reasonable to believe that
the coming years will witness continuing advancement in all the dimensions
delineated above. Certainly, the University’s leadership, faculty and staff will be
working restlessly and with disciplined impatience to ensure that we not only create
new knowledge but that this knowledge is contextually relevant and improves the
quality of life of the people we serve, especially those in low- and middle-income
countries. As His Highness told the Class of 1989, “AKU must embody the fact that
knowledge is constantly changing and must ever be challenged and extended.”
3
PIONEERING Pioneering study to
address adversity and
brain development
Researchers will AKU is conducting one of the first
studies of how malnutrition, stress
analyze brain MRIs and other adversities affect the
development of children’s brains
of children from in a low-resource setting.
Ibrahim Hyderi Early life adversities such as neglect,
and Rehri Goth malnutrition and psychosocial and
environmental stress prevent millions of
children from reaching their potential.
Neuroimaging studies from high-
income countries show that these
adversities can alter the developing
brain. Yet few such studies have been
done in low-income countries.
“There is a great need to replicate
studies from high-income countries
in low- and middle-income countries
to obtain data for the developing
world and to identify the potential
risk factors as they exist here,” said
Assistant Professor Sidra Kaleem Jafri,
the study’s principal investigator.
A total of 250 mother-child pairs from
the Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth
areas of Karachi have been enrolled in
AKU Research 4 AKU Research
the four-year study, which will see the
children receive annual brain MRIs,
starting as early as 1 month of age.
The researchers will collect biological
samples and bodily measurements
from both the mothers and their
children. They will also assess them
using various behavioral, cognitive
and developmental tools such as
the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression
Scale and the Reynolds Intellectual
Assessment Scale. Researchers will
then seek to identify correlations
between environmental influences,
brain development and cognitive skills.
Researchers at King’s College London
will analyze the brain MRIs. Researchers
at the University of Manitoba in Canada
will conduct breast milk analysis. The
study will conclude in December 2026.
5
CANCER
Multi-gene testing
recommended for
hereditary breast
cancer
Study is the first
of its kind in
Pakistan

Individuals who require testing for
hereditary breast cancer should receive
multi-gene testing, not just testing
for pathogenic variants in the BRCA1
and BRCA2 genes, according to an
AKU study that is the first of its kind in
Pakistan. The study validated guidelines
that recommend genetic testing for
all individuals below the age of 50 who
are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Hereditary breast cancer is mainly
caused by pathogenic variants (that is,
variants that cause disease) in genes
inherited from one’s parents. In other
cases, it may be present as a de novo
variant (that is, only present in the
patient as a new event). It accounts
for 5-10 percent of cases but is
understudied in lower-income countries.
Knowing that an individual’s breast
cancer is hereditary can help doctors
to optimize patient management and
help family members to understand
their risk of cancer, enabling them
to take better care of their health.
The study examined data on 284
individuals who had genetic testing
done through the hereditary breast
cancer clinic at the Aga Khan University
Hospital over a three-year period.
(The actual testing was outsourced
to laboratories in the United States.)
In total, 273 of the 284 patients had
breast cancer, including four men.
Researchers found that 45 percent
of patients who tested positive
for hereditary breast cancer had a
pathogenic variant in a gene other
than the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
If multi-gene testing had not been
done, the fact that these patients had
hereditary breast cancer would not
have been detected, limiting doctors’
ability to treat them. Thus, multi-gene
testing for those who require testing for
hereditary breast cancer is advisable.
In total, 22 percent of those tested
were found to have hereditary breast
cancer, a result that is toward the higher
end of the range of results reported
in other countries. The median age
of those who tested positive was 37.5
years. Twenty-five percent of patients
who tested positive had no family
history of breast or related cancers.
Of the 44 patients below the age of 45
who tested positive for hereditary breast The study, by Senior Instructor Fizza
cancer, 11 had no family history of breast Akbar, Associate Professor Abida Sattar
or related cancers. and Associate Professor and Chair of
the Division of Women and Child Health
The National Comprehensive Cancer Salman Kirmani, et al., was published in
Network 2023 guidelines recommend Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice.
genetic testing for anyone under the
age of 50 who develops breast cancer,
regardless of whether they have a
family history of cancer. The study’s
authors note that some clinicians only
refer breast cancer patients for genetic
testing if they have a family history of
cancer. Doing so can lead to hereditary
breast cancer going undetected.

AKU Research 6 AKU Research 7

IED builds support
for teacher licensing
in Pakistan
8 9
Licensure could
help to improve
teacher quality,
researchers say
The idea of requiring teachers in
Pakistan to obtain a license before they
can enter the profession has gained
traction as a result of research and
outreach conducted by the Institute
for Educational Development (IED).
Many countries require teachers to be
licensed or certified, along with other
professionals such as doctors, lawyers
and engineers. Obtaining a teaching
license typically involves passing either
a written examination or a performance-
AKU Research
based assessment in which teachers
demonstrate their skills in a classroom.
Pakistan has implemented various
strategies to enhance the quality of
teaching, yet many students continue to
learn little. One-quarter of eighth graders
cannot fluently read a simple story in
Urdu, Sindhi or Pashto, and one-third
cannot perform division, according
to the Annual Status of Education
Report. More than 90 percent of
primary and lower-secondary students
in Pakistan have only a weak or basic
understanding of the mathematics
and science they are required to learn,
according to a nationwide IED study.
IED Associate Professor Sajid Ali and
Research Associate Afaq Ahmed note
that teacher quality has a huge impact
on student learning. They point, for
example, to research from the U.S.
by Stanford University Professor Eric
Hanushek that found that students
in an excellent teacher’s class can
learn 1.5 years of material, compared
to only half a year’s material in a weak
teacher’s class. Citing research by
Stanford Professor Linda Darling-
Hammond and others, they argue
that licensing would increase teacher
quality by setting minimum standards
for entry into the profession.
In addition, licensing could enhance
the public’s confidence in teachers,
bolstering the prestige of teaching
and helping to attract more qualified
candidates to the profession.
Not content simply to present the
case for teaching licensure in Pakistan,
10
Ali and Ahmed set out to encourage
educators and policymakers to
consider its potential benefits.
They drafted a dozen short papers
on various aspects of licensure and
organized policy dialogues that
included presentations by experts from
Pakistan, Singapore and the United
States. They also conducted an online
survey of almost 1,000 stakeholders
in Pakistan to gather perspectives
on teaching quality and licensure.
Ali and Ahmed then published a
white paper on teaching licensure in
Pakistan that incorporated findings
from the dialogues and the survey.
While the paper found support for
licensure among stakeholders, it notes
AKU Research
that teacher opposition could doom the
idea politically. It therefore recommends
proceeding gradually; taking care to
consult teachers and address their
concerns; and ensuring that licensing
remains focused on improving teacher
quality, student learning and public
confidence in the teaching profession.
Following the publication of the white
paper, IED collaborated with the Sindh
Teacher Education Development
Authority and Durbeen, an NGO, to
develop a teacher licensing policy
for Sindh. Committee members met
regularly with the Education Minister
and Education Secretary during
the development of the policy.
As this edition of the AKU research
magazine was going to press, the
Sindh Cabinet approved a new teacher
licensing policy. One of the first steps
taken under the policy was to require
that new elementary school teachers
have a Bachelor of Education and pass
a licensing exam. Teachers who do so
will be hired at the government’s Basic
Pay Scale 16, rather than at Basic Pay
Scale 14, as was the case previously.
“With the policy in place, the Sindh
Government has laid the foundation
for a more robust and professional
teaching workforce,” Sindh Minister of
Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah said.
11
Grading system
developed by AKU-EB
adopted in Pakistan
A new system for grading school-
leaving examinations developed by the
AKU Examination Board (AKU-EB) will
be used nationwide in Pakistan after
the federal Inter Board Committee of
Chairmen (IBCC) voted to adopt it,
starting in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Researchers at AKU-EB reviewed
the grading systems of 30 countries
before developing the new system. Its
adoption reflects years of engagement
The system with the IBCC by AKU-EB and its CEO,
Dr Shehzad Jeeva, who has served
will be used for as chairman of the IBCC in the past.
Pakistan has nearly three dozen
school-leaving examination boards. Each develops
year-end examinations for high school
examinations students that are used to determine
whether they proceed to the next
AKU Research 12 AKU Research
grade level, as well as for university
admissions decisions. Approximately 4
million students take the tests annually.
The previous grading system had
seven levels (A-1, A, B, C, D, E and
F). A score from 80-100 percent
received an A-1, while a score from
70-80 percent received an A, a
score from 60-70 percent received
a B, etc. A major problem with the
system was the large band for an A-1,
which failed to distinguish among
high performers. Narrower bands
are typical in many countries.
The new grading system features 10
levels. Scores ranging from 95 percent
and above receive an A++, while 90
and above but below 95 receive an A+,
85 and above but below 90 receive an
A, 80 and above but below 85 receive
a B++ etc. – down to 70 percent. From
40 percent to 70 percent, the bands
increase from 5 percentage points to
10 percentage points. The minimum
passing grade under the new system
is 40 percent, compared to 33 percent
under the old system. Rather than
an ‘F’ for ‘Fail’, the lowest grade is ‘U’
for ‘Unsatisfactory’. Under the new
system, examination results will only
show grades, not numerical scores.
13
One-quarter of health
workers in Kenyan study In a nationwide study in Kenya, one in
four nurses, midwives and community
show signs of depression health volunteers interviewed by
AKU researchers exhibited signs of
depression. An even higher proportion
Interviews also showed symptoms of post-traumatic
stress disorder.
indicate PTSD
The findings were based on phone
symptoms are interviews with nearly 4,000 individuals
common conducted between January 2021 and
June 2022. Health care workers from
all 47 counties participated. The study
was conducted by faculty from the
Institute for Human Development and
the School of Nursing and Midwifery,
East Africa, and funded by the
Johnson and Johnson Foundation.
Twenty-three percent of nurses and
midwives and 25 percent of community
health volunteers (CHVs) showed
signs of depression. Forty percent
of nurses and midwives and 38
percent of CHVs showed symptoms
of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sources of stress identified by
participants included heavy workloads,
lack of resources, poor work
environments, irregular salary payments
AKU Research 14 AKU Research
amongst nurses and midwives and lack
of salaries for CHVs. Opportunities to
receive psychosocial support were
found to be lacking, with managers
having little or no relevant training.
Resources necessary for providing
psychosocial support – such as space,
trained staff and funding – were also
found to be limited or nonexistent.
“We need to develop policies that
recognise and address the mental
health needs of health workers,” said
Professor Amina Abubakar, Director of
the Institute for Human Development.
“In our analysis of policy documents, we
learnt that available policies focus on
patients and their needs. There is limited
direction on how to address health
workers’ psychosocial needs, yet we
expect quality health care from them.”
The study implemented a text
message-based intervention to
provide psychosocial support to
health workers. Participants received
automated text messages offering
advice on managing work-related stress
and on resilience-building measures.
Preliminary results indicated that such
interventions could help health workers
to manage mental health challenges.
As the study was conducted during
the pandemic, it included funding for
masks, sanitizers and gowns, which
were distributed to health care workers
who were having difficulty obtaining
such items. Approximately $7,000 worth
of such resources were distributed in
northeastern Kenya through the Frontier
Counties Developmental Council and
in the Dagoretti area of Nairobi.
The Nursing Council of Kenya assisted
in identifying participating nurses and
midwives, while the CHVs were recruited
through the County Departments of
Health. The National Nurses Association
of Kenya provided counselling services
for those in distress. Study results were
disseminated at a high-level meeting
with policymakers from the Ministry
of Health, representatives of nursing
associations and other stakeholders.
15
NEW BOOK
The politics of the veil
in interwar Turkey
New book
examines how
women negotiated
efforts to
“modernize” their
dress

AKU Research 16 AKU Research 17

JOURNALISM
The state of East
Africa’s news media:
East African news outlets are young,
diverse in ownership and confident
in their ability to innovate and deliver
high-quality journalism, despite
the financial difficulties they have
confident under
experienced in recent years and efforts
to shape their coverage by powerful
interests. Such are the findings of The
pressure
State of Innovation and Media Viability
in East Africa, a 72-page report by
AKU’s Graduate School of Media and
Communications and DW Akademie.
The report is based on an in-depth
online survey of media managers
and journalists from a total of 437
media outlets in Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania from 2020 to 2021. More
than 800 journalists and nearly 275
managers responded. The responses
from within each organization were
aggregated to produce a single score,
which the report then used for its
analyses. Some key findings follow.
Media outlets tend to be young,
independently owned and dependent
on advertising for revenue: Although
most print publications are older, about
60 percent of TV, radio, digital and
multimedia outlets are less than 10 years
old. About 60 percent of all outlets are
independently owned. Advertising is
the top revenue source for all sectors
of the media save print, for which
single-copy sales and paid downloads
are the leading source of revenue.
Young media firms may be more likely
to fail, but may also be more likely to be
innovative. The fact that most outlets
are independently owned may increase
the number of viewpoints to which
AKU Research 18 AKU Research
the public is exposed. Dependence
on advertising at a time when news
media outlets are losing advertising
revenue to new competitors online
may endanger their financial viability .
Amid the pandemic, most media
outlets expected to survive: Four
out of five outlets put their likelihood
of survival at 60 percent or higher,
despite the fact that the vast majority
suffered financially in 2020.
Journalists face intimidation and
pressure: Some 13 percent of media
outlets in Tanzania, 35 percent in Kenya
and 58 percent in Uganda reported
their journalists had been arrested
or physically assaulted as a result of
their work in 2019. Roughly a third of
Kenyan outlets and half of Ugandan
outlets said they had spiked at least
one story due to political or business
pressure in 2019. A third of Tanzanian
outlets said that in 2019 they had
spiked at least one story due to political
pressure, and 15 percent said they had
done so due to business pressure.
Journalists may lack access to
the equipment, technology and
training they need: Less than half
of organizations agreed or strongly
agreed that their journalists have
access to needed equipment,
technology and training.
Most news outlets believe they are
innovative: More than 60 percent
of surveyed organizations
say they are innovative. The
figure is lowest among print-
focused organizations (50 percent)
and highest among multimedia
organizations (71 percent).
News organizations rate themselves
fairly highly on several factors that
influence the quality of their journalism:
On a Likert scale of 1 to 5, with 1
representing the lowest score and 5
the highest, organizations rated their
editorial practices a 4.23. They rated
both their editorial independence
and their ability to provide regular
and attractive levels of pay a 3.64.
News organizations rate themselves
highly on the diversity of their staff
despite the limited number of women in
the media: Most organizations agreed
or strongly agreed that they have a
“diverse staff from different backgrounds
including women and marginalized
groups.” That is despite what the report’s
authors call “well-documented gender
disparities in the newsroom.” One-
quarter of the managers
and one-third of the
journalists who
responded to the
survey were
women.
19
Drug-resistant
fungal infections
raise alarm
In Pakistan, the fungus
Candida is becoming
increasingly resistant
to antimicrobial drugs,
according to an
AKU study. That is a
worrisome finding given
that Candida infections
can pose a serious
threat to human health.
Candida is a type of fungus
that ordinarily lives on the skin
and in various areas within the
body without causing harm. But
if it invades the blood or organs, it
AKU Research
can cause severe and fatal infections.
People with weakened immune
systems and those who have had
certain types of hospital procedures
are most at risk of contracting
invasive Candida infections.
AKU researchers examined 2,200
Candida strains collected from 2015
to 2021 from hospitalized patients
in Pakistan. The average rate of
resistance to fluconazole, a first-line
treatment, was 8 percent in newborns,
23 percent in children and 36 percent
in adults. That represents a sharp
increase from resistance rates of 2.1
20
percent between 2006 and 2009 and
4.6 percent between 2010 and 2014.
In the United States, about 7 percent
of all Candida strains isolated from
blood samples tested by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) are resistant to fluconazole.
For the first time in Pakistan, the
researchers found fluconazole
resistance in Candida albicans,
Candida parapsilosis and Candida
tropicalis. They also analyzed
drug-resistant Candida strains to
identify genetic mutations that
may contribute to resistance.
AKU Research
“The reasons for increased drug
resistance are multifactorial,
including limited capacity for fungal
diagnosis, overuse of antifungals for
patient management and misuse
of antifungals as disinfectants,”
said Professor Kausar Jabeen, the
study’s principal investigator.
The study’s results demonstrate the
need for continuous surveillance of
antifungal resistance in Pakistan.
They may inform treatment
and prevention guidelines, as
well as policy development.
AKU is a leader in the field of
Study finds
high levels of
antimicrobial
resistance
among Candida
species
fungal diagnostics in Pakistan,
having previously benefitted from
a capacity-building partnership
with the CDC’s Myotic Diseases
Branch. The University is currently
collaborating with Northwestern
University in the United States to
build its capacity in the genomic
surveillance of Candida species
using whole genome sequencing.
21
 Researchers identify
low-cost interventions
for reducing malnutrition
in Kenya
The health of children in some of
Kenya’s poorest counties could be
improved without increasing spending
by directing funding to more cost-
effective nutrition interventions,
according to a study by researchers
at AKU and other institutions.
Developed for the World Bank by
researchers in Australia, Optima
Nutrition is a modeling tool that makes
it possible to optimize spending across
a range of nutrition interventions
to minimize stunting and wasting
in children, as well as anaemia in
children and pregnant women.
Study aims to Drawing on data on demographics,
help policymakers nutrition outcomes and intervention
coverage and costs, Instructor Morris
working with Ogero and Associate Professor Anthony
Ngugi used the tool to estimate the
limited budgets impact of optimizing nutrition budgets
in the 24 counties with the poorest
nutrition outcomes in Kenya. Data came
from seven sources, including Kenya’s
AKU Research 22 AKU Research
Population and Housing Census and
Demographic and Health Survey.
The Optima model includes
interventions proven either to directly
reduce stunting, wasting, anaemia
and mortality, or to reduce their
risk factors, such as preterm birth,
failure to breastfeed and diarrhoea.
The effect of optimizing budgets was
projected for a 10-year period and
compared to a baseline scenario in
which 2019 spending was continued.
In most counties, to lower the number
of stunted children, the model
reallocated resources to achieve high
coverage of multiple micronutrient
supplementation, balanced energy-
protein supplementation, lipid-based
nutrition supplementation and Vitamin
A supplementation. For example, in
Baringo county, the model shifted
resources from zinc tablets and
oral rehydration salts (used to treat
diarrhoea) to lipid-based nutrition
supplements. Doing so yielded an
estimated reduction in the prevalence of
stunting from 40 percent to 33 percent
over the 10-year modelling period.
The study team has begun engaging
with policymakers and nutrition
programme planners at the national
and county levels to consider how
incremental progress toward the
optimal budget allocations generated
using the Optima model can be
achieved. Additionally, they hope to
test the impact of implementing the
model’s recommendations. Ogero and
Ngugi worked with researchers from
the Burnet Institute in Australia, which
developed the Optima Nutrition tool, as
well as with Kenya’s Ministry of Health.
23
ULTRASOUND
Project tests feasibility
of ultrasound scans in
rural Kenya
Scaling up is
recommended, but
requires training
and investment
A project to provide ultrasound scans
to pregnant women in rural Kenya
increased the number of women seeking
antenatal care and demonstrated the
feasibility of providing ultrasounds in
community health facilities in resource-
poor settings.
The World Health Organization
recommends pregnant women receive
an ultrasound within 24 weeks of
gestation as part of routine antenatal
care to allow accurate determination
of gestational age and detect multiple
pregnancies and fetal anomalies.
Known as Mimba Yangu (or My
Pregnancy), the project was funded by
the Philips Foundation and conducted
by the AKU Centre of Excellence in
Women and Child Health in three rural
communities of Kilifi County where AKU
has been working for years: Kaloleni,
Ganze and Rabai. Fourteen government
AKU Research
health care facilities received portable
ultrasound machines, which AKU
faculty trained nurses and midwives to
use. Nearly 300 nurses, midwives and
community health volunteers were
also given a mobile-phone application
for recording health data on pregnant
women during visits to their homes.
More than 3,000 women were invited to
the study and received an ultrasound
scan, most of them before 24 weeks.
Gestational age was determined and
multiple pregnancies were detected,
leading to referrals to higher-level health
facilities.
Overall, the project generated positive
outcomes and was appreciated by
stakeholders, according to researchers.
Patients as well as health care providers
and managers felt that the provision
of ultrasounds and mobile technology
was relevant, feasible and effective;
benefitted the target population; and
improved the utilization and quality of
antenatal care services. Data showed
an increase in the number of women
visiting facilities for antenatal care four
or more times, likely due to their first
visit coming earlier in their pregnancy.
The project also demonstrated that the
WHO’s recommendation that women
receive an ultrasound early in their
pregnancy can be implemented in
resource-poor environments by staff
at the primary-care level if they are
appropriately trained, supervised and
mentored.
The project was carried out in close
collaboration with Kilifi County
Government, sub-county government
and the Philips Foundation. AKU
researchers have partnered with
government officials in the area on
numerous projects in recent years. For
example, they have been collecting
and analyzing health and demographic
information on more than 75,000 people
in Kilifi County since 2017, in partnership
with sub-county health officials.
Professor Marleen Temmerman was
the project’s principal investigator. Co-
investigators included Nidhi Leekha,
Lucy Nyaga, Michaela Mantel, Sikolia
Wanyonyi, Rachel Odhiambo and Sarah
Kedenge.
24 AKU Research 25
 Study to examine
the gut microbiome
and child health
Researchers at AKU are utilizing
genetic sequencing to understand the
gut microbiome and its influence on
maternal and child health.
Characterization of the human
microbiome can provide valuable
insights into the status of human health
and disposition to disease. The gut
microbiome changes during pregnancy
and appears to differ in women
with certain pregnancy-associated
complications. An infant’s microbiome
may have long-term implications for its
physical growth, nutritional status and
cognitive development.
Gut microbiota composition and
The influence of the function develop throughout the first
gut microbiome on two years of life. The development of the
gut microbiome in infancy is thought to
child development is play an important role in the maturation
of the immune system, prevention of
not well understood pathogen colonization and nutrient
utilization and modification. Newborns’
AKU Research 26 AKU Research
gut microbiota are shaped by a variety of
factors, with one likely factor being the
maternal microbial reservoir. Yet little is
known about how transmission occurs
from mother to child.
Whole genome shotgun metagenomics
sequencing technology offers a
robust way to study the effect of the
gut microbiome on human health.
Shotgun metagenomics is the
untargeted (“shotgun”) sequencing
of all microbial genomes present in a
sample. To understand the transmission
and adaptation of the maternal and
infant gut microbiomes and how they
could be modulated to manage risk
factors in pregnancy, AKU researchers
are performing such sequencing on
maternal fecal samples taken around the
time of delivery and infant fecal samples
taken 42 days after birth and between 12
and 18 months after birth. The samples
are part of an AKU biobank that holds
2,500 biospecimens from mothers and
children living in low-income, peri-urban
communities of Karachi.
The study is part of a larger effort by AKU
to become a leader in gut microbiome
research in Pakistan and to undertake
clinical studies of interventions that
can improve maternal, foetal and infant
health. It is being funded by the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation as part of
the development of a multi-country
platform that will enable clinical
trials of interventions for improving
maternal nutritional status and foetal
growth. Other study sites are located
in Bangladesh, Senegal and Zambia.
Associate Professor Fyezah Jehan is the
study’s principal investigator.
27
 In Tanzania, a
living laboratory
for environmental
research takes shape

AKU Research 28 AKU Research 29

 AKU’s emerald
jewel is ready
to shine
A research asset unlike any other in
AKU’s portfolio is rapidly taking shape
in Tanzania. Featuring 3,700 acres
of undeveloped land, the Arusha
Climate and Environmental Research
Station will be a living laboratory for
studies related to climate change
and environmental sustainability.
The station consists of two sites. The
Manyara site consists of 3,200 acres of
historically degraded and deforested
land, dotted with seven hills and
featuring views of 4,500-metre-tall
Mount Meru, which sits at the centre of
Arusha National Park. Portions of the
site are used by contract farmers for the
production of flower seeds, coffee, fruit
and vegetables, and its grasses are used
by area residents as fodder for livestock.
The University has planted more than
200,000 trees on the property and
operates an agricultural demonstration
site that displays climate-resilient
approaches to small-scale farming.
Manyara is also home to an AKU-run
Community Outreach Centre, which
offers educational opportunities, sports
AKU Research 30 AKU Research
and other activities for local residents.
The second site, known as Two Rivers,
consists of 500 acres located between
the Malala and Tengeru rivers, and
is currently used for horticultural
crops. Current activities at the sites
will largely continue as the University
adds laboratory facilities and housing
for researchers and students.
Efforts to take full advantage of the sites’
research potential are well underway.
An advisory committee has been
established that includes experts from
the University of Alberta and Simon
Fraser University. Insights into field-
station operations have been garnered
via visits to the Mpala Research Centre,
operated by Princeton University and
others, and the International Livestock
Research Institute’s Kapiti Research
Station. Partnership agreements are
in place with a dozen universities
and research institutions in Tanzania,
Canada and the United States,
including the Tanzania Wildlife Research
Institute and Simon Fraser University.
Discussions indicate scientists from
many organizations will be interested
in pursuing research at the station.
Several research projects are already
underway and more than a dozen others
are in various stages of development.
A community needs assessment was
undertaken as a first step toward
identifying local challenges that
researchers could address. A study
of pollinators will help to address the
lack of data on pollinator populations
in Tanzania. Pollination by bees,
butterflies and other creatures increases
production of most agricultural crops,
but pollinator populations are shrinking
around the world. One recent study
by Harvard University estimates that
insufficient pollination could reduce
agricultural income in some lower-
income countries by 10-30 percent.
31
Clinical trials
update
Thirty clinical trials are currently underway at AKU – 23 in Karachi and seven
in Nairobi. These trials are testing therapeutics and vaccines developed by
American, French, Swiss, Swedish and Chinese pharmaceutical companies
for use against a range of diseases, including hepatitis D, fungal infections,
breast cancer, oesophageal cancer, multiple sclerosis and COVID-19. Among
them are the following.

D-LIVR CARES/FURI LIDERA ASTEFANIA CHIMES

Hepatitis D, or delta hepatitis, is
a liver infection that can lead to
cirrhosis, cancer and early mortality.
The D-LIVR trial is a phase III study
examining the use of lonafarnib to
treat hepatitis D, either in combination
with ritonavir, which is used to treat
HIV, or in combination with ritonavir
and peginterferon alfa, which is used
to treat hepatitis B and C. Of the 400
patients enrolled in the study by more
than 100 sites in 22 countries, 53
come from AKU, more than from any
other site. The trial’s sponsor is U.S.-
based Eiger BioPharmaceuticals.
The CARES trial is a phase III, four-
country trial evaluating the use of
ibrexafungerp to treat patients with
candidiasis caused by Candida auris,
a yeast. Candida auris is often drug-
resistant and more than one-third of
patients with an invasive Candida
auris infection die. The trial’s sponsor
is U.S.-based Scynexis Inc. Scynexis
is also sponsoring the FURI trial, a
phase III trial that is evaluating the
use of ibrexafungerp in patients with a
fungal disease that has been intolerant
or refractory to standard antifungal
treatment. An estimated 30 patients
in four countries will be enrolled in
the CARES trial and an estimated
200 patients in eight countries will
be enrolled in the FURI trial.
The LIDERA trial is a phase III study of
Giredestrant to treat estrogen-receptor
positive, HER2-negative early breast
cancer. Tamoxifen and aromatase
inhibitors are the main therapies
currently used to treat such cancer,
but many patients relapse and the side
effects of the drugs can lead patients
to discontinue treatment. Giredestrant
is a novel endocrine therapy that could
decrease relapse and recurrence while
causing fewer side effects. An estimated
4,100 patients from more than 50
countries will be enrolled in the trial. The
sponsor is Switzerland-based Roche.
The ASTEFANIA trial is a phase III
double-blind, placebo-controlled study
assessing the use of atezolizumab
and trastuzumab emtansine to treat
patients with HER2-positive primary
breast cancer who have received
preoperative chemotherapy and HER2-
directed therapy and have residual
invasive disease. An estimated 1,700
patients in more than 30 countries
will be enrolled in the study. The
sponsor is Switzerland-based Roche.
TALIOS
The TALIOS trial is a phase II study of
two drugs, both bispecific antibodies, to
treat advanced or metastatic squamous
cell carcinoma of the oesophagus,
compared with nivolumab. An estimated
210 participants from more than 20
countries will be enrolled in the trial. The
sponsor is Switzerland-based Roche.
The CHIMES trial is a three-country,
phase IV trial of ocrelizumab to treat
relapsing multiple sclerosis in black and
Hispanic patients. Black and Hispanic
patients are underrepresented in clinical
trials of multiple sclerosis treatments,
yet they may suffer worse outcomes
from the disease. A total of 179 patients
are enrolled in the study, which is
sponsored by U.S.-based Genentech.
COVID-19 TRIALS
A number of trials of COVID-19
vaccines and therapeutics to which
AKU contributed have been completed
and several are underway or about to
begin. The COPCOV trial sponsored by
Oxford University evaluating the use
of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine
to prevent COVID-19 is complete,
with results yet to be published. The
World Health Organization’s Solidarity
trial of repurposed antiviral drugs
to treat COVID-19 is complete. It
discontinued evaluation of lopinavir,
hydroxychloroquine and interferon
(IFN)-β1a for futility and found that
remdesivir had no significant effect
on ventilated COVID-19 patients and a
small effect against death or progression
to ventilation among other hospitalized
patients. The ACT trial, sponsored by
Canada’s Population Health Research
Institute, is complete and found no
support for the use of colchicine or
aspirin to prevent disease progression
or death in outpatients with COVID-19.
Sponsored by China’s Pacific Meinuoke,
the DEFLECT study of meplazumab to
treat patients with severe COVID-19
reported that the drug “promoted
COVID-19 convalescence and reduced
mortality, viral load and cytokine levels.”
A trial of two Sanofi vaccines is ongoing.
A vaccine produced by China-based
Livzon Pharmaceutical has reportedly
been approved for use as a booster.

AKU Research 32 AKU Research 33

AKU
innovations
earn patents
Two new devices developed by AKU faculty and staff have received
US patents, bringing the total number of US patents earned by faculty
and staff to 10. In addition, an AKU-developed mobile app received
first prize at an international competition.
THE GLOVE
The Glove is a three-in-one wearable
device that can be used to measure
oxygen saturation via an infrared
sensor and blood pressure via an
inflatable cuff, while also recording
an electrocardiogram via electrodes.
It can therefore take the place of a
pulse oximeter, a sphygmomanometer
and an electrocardiogram machine.
Readings are sent wirelessly to a
smartphone application and an
algorithm generates a diagnosis. The
Glove is comfortable, washable – its
electronic components are waterproof
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– and easy to use. It has received a US
patent and researchers are working to
engage a company to build prototypes
that can be used in a clinical trial. The
Glove was funded by Grand Challenges
Canada and developed by Professor
Ayeesha Kamran Kamal, Senior
Instructor Ambreen Gowan and a team
of researchers at the Digital Health
Resource Centre that included Saleem
Sayani, Hafiz Imtiaz Ahmed, Hafsa
Talat and Muhammad Abdul Muqeet.
34
PORTABLE ECG DEVICE
Roughly the size of a thumb drive, the
ECG On-the-Go can be used at home by
patients to record an electrocardiogram
and send it via a mobile app to their
physician, enabling the detection of a
variety of heart problems. As patients
do not always exhibit symptoms when
a scheduled electrocardiogram is
performed, the flexibility the device
permits can enable the detection
of issues that might otherwise be
overlooked. The US-patented device
features a rechargeable battery and
retractable electrodes and can be
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used with either dry or gel electrodes.
Researchers are working to engage
a company to build prototypes that
can be used in a clinical trial. The ECG
On-the-Go was developed by Saleem
Sayani, Muhammad Abdul Muqeet,
Hafiz Imtiaz Ahmed, Hafsa Talat,
Professor Ayeesha Kamran Kamal,
Ambreen Amir Ali and Naeem Sheikh.
PUMPING HEART SIMULATOR
Cardiac surgery trainees can benefit
from practicing procedures on heart
simulators, yet most such simulators
are unable to mimic blood flow and are
therefore insufficiently lifelike. An AKU
team was able to create a higher-fidelity
simulator that pumps a blood-like fluid
through a cow’s heart. The device was
created by Professor Saulat Fatimi,
Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery; the late
Professor Charles Docherty, who prior
to his untimely passing in early 2023 was
Director of the Centre for Innovation in
Medical Education; and Dr Mohammad
35
 HAYAT MOBILE APPLICATION

Bin Pervez, a graduate of the MBBS
programme and a former chief resident
in cardiothoracic surgery. The simulator
is housed within the Anatomy and
Surgery Learning Studio and is being
used by cardiac surgery residents. “The
pumping heart simulator represents
a significant breakthrough in cardiac
surgery training,” said Dr Fatimi, who
hopes to eventually market the device
to other institutions. “While earlier
simulators were limited to training
procedures designed for the surface of
the heart, our simulator allows trainees
to practice procedures inside the heart.”
A US patent has been applied for.
The Hayat mobile application is used
by 1,850 Lady Health Workers in rural
Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. Lady Health
Workers are government-employed
community health workers who provide
basic health services to women, children
and families during home visits. As
they visit households, workers use
the Hayat app to record details of the
services they deliver, while a geo-
mapping feature tracks their location.
The data can be analyzed and used for
decision-making by supervisors and
policymakers. In addition, individuals
receive a card with a QR code that
LHWs can use to instantly pull up their
patient records. Hayat won the top
prize in the maternal and neonatal
health category at the fifth annual
Commonwealth Digital Health Awards.
Support for the development of the
devices was provided by the University’s
Technology Innovation Support Centre
and Digital Health Resource Centre.

AKU Research 36 AKU Research 37

From new rankings
to new books
AKU RANKED IN THE TOP 300
IN MEDICAL RESEARCH
The NTU Rankings, published by
National Taiwan University, placed AKU
among the world’s top 300 universities
in medical research. Only six institutions
in South Asia and Africa were ranked in
the top 300. The rankings, which have
been published since 2007, are based
on productivity (number of articles
published, etc.), impact (number of
citations, etc.) and excellence (highly
cited papers, h-index, etc.). “This ranking
system evaluates the performance of
the scientific papers of universities,
and the indicators were designed to
compare both the quality and the
quantity of scientific papers in each
university,” the ranking’s authors state.
FACULTY AMONG WORLD’S
MOST-CITED RESEARCHERS
Twenty-two AKU faculty members
are among the most highly cited
researchers in the world, according
to the latest edition of a well-known
dataset published by Stanford University
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Professor John P.A. Ioannidis. The list
is based on a composite indicator that
takes into account citations, h-index,
co-authorship adjusted hm-index
and citations to papers in different
authorship positions. The list includes
the top 100,000 scientists (out of nearly
7 million globally) according to the
composite indicator, as well as those
who are among the top 2 percent in
their subfield (scientists are classified
into 22 fields and 176 sub-fields). Per
Ioannidis and his co-authors, “We have
tried to offer a solution to overcome
many of the technical problems and
provide a comprehensive database
of a sufficiently large number of
the most-cited scientists across
science.” The AKU faculty members
on the list are Zulfiqar Bhutta, Abdul
Mannan Baig, Marleen Temmerman,
Adil Haider, Jai Das, Rehana Salam,
Romaina Iqbal, Junaid Razzak, Bushra
Jamil, Sajif Soofi, Muhammad Ghayur,
Muhammad Shamim, Farah Qamar,
Wasim Jafri, Syeda Sadia Fatima,
Waris Qidwai, Zafar Fatmi, Imran
Ahmed, Rodney Adam, Mansoor Saleh,
Khabir Ahmad and Salim Virani.
FACULTY MEMBERS EARN AWARDS
Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta received the
2022 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global
Health Award. The Gairdner Awards, the
Lasker Awards and the Nobel Prizes are
the three most prestigious prizes for
medical research in the world. Nearly
100 Gairdner Award recipients have
gone on to win a Nobel Prize. John
Dirks was Dean of AKU’s Faculty of
Health Sciences from 1994 to 1996 and
was Dean of the University of Toronto
Faculty of Medicine. Other 2022 award
winners include Professor Marleen
Temmerman, who was elected to the
US National Academy of Medicine and
the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences; and Associate Professor Farah
Naz Qamar, who received the Tamgha-
e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan
in recognition of her contributions to
public health. Dr Qamar received her
master’s in clinical research from AKU.
38
RESEARCHERS GROW BRAIN
ORGANOIDS TO STUDY
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
Researchers at AKU’s Centre for
Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell
Research are working to understand
the molecular and cellular basis of
neurodevelopmental disorders such
as microcephaly, schizophrenia and
autism. Assistant Professor Salma
Jahan is using induced pluripotent
stem cells from individuals with
neurodevelopmental disorders to
grow cortical organoids – tiny bits
of tissue that possess some of the
features of the brain. She will then
test the response of these organoids
to various therapies. Jahan previously
contributed to a study published
in Nature by a team of researchers
at the University of California, San
Francisco that provides a framework
for evaluating and improving the extent
to which cortical organoids accurately
model human brain development.
AKU Research
BMI EXPLORES DEMENTIA IN KENYA
The Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) will
be working to deliver new insights into
dementia in Africa in partnership with
the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative.
The project addresses the lack of
research on dementia in lower-income
countries, which will be home to two-
thirds of the world’s population over
60 years of age by 2050. Researchers
will seek to validate biomarkers of
dementia through a study of patients
at the Aga Khan University Hospital,
Nairobi. Biomarkers enable the early
identification of individuals who have
or are at risk of dementia. BMI will
also interview people with dementia,
their caregivers and members of the
public as part of an ethnographic study
of attitudes toward the condition in
Kenya. AKU is the first institution to
carry out research in Sub-Saharan
Africa outside of South Africa with
the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative,
which is partnering with institutions
around the world to study Alzheimer’s in
people of non-European ancestry. The
Collaborative hopes that studying the
disease in a more diverse population will
lead to the discovery of new biomarkers
and targets for drug development.
SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND
LEARNING GAINS GROUND
Efforts to encourage AKU faculty
members to incorporate evidence-based
teaching strategies into their classroom
practice and conduct research on
teaching and learning are bearing fruit.
Around the world, doctoral programmes
are primarily designed to develop
researchers rather than effective
classroom teachers. AKU’s Network of
Quality, Teaching and Learning supports
faculty members in developing their
pedagogy and in pursuing scholarship
on teaching and learning. The Network’s
biennial conference on teaching
and learning research has raised the
subject’s profile within the University,
while its grants help faculty to pursue
educational research and innovation.
So far 29 grants worth $96,000 have
been distributed, supporting projects
related to educational technology,
39
experiential learning, critical thinking
and other subjects. For example,
Associate Professor Lena Jafri used a
grant to introduce workplace-based
assessments into the curriculum for
chemical pathology residents. The
initiative led the College of Physicians
and Surgeons Pakistan to incorporate
workplace-based assessments into
the national chemical pathology
curriculum. AKU’s recently established
Haile T. Debas Teachers’ Academy
is also supporting the development
of scholarly approaches to teaching
and learning within the University.
In just a few years, the number of
times publications on teaching and
learning by AKU faculty have been
cited has tripled, to more than 1,500.
SONAM INTERVENTION
HELPS SMOKERS
A smoking cessation intervention
developed by faculty members and
a PhD student from the School of
Nursing and Midwifery in Pakistan
led to smoking cessation among 40
percent of study participants after 12
weeks. The intervention was informed
by a review of five years of studies on
smoking cessation in South Asia and
AKU Research
interviews with more than 30 smokers.
Multiple interviewees did not consider
smoking harmful for a physically fit
person, believed smoking to be halal,
believed that smoking is protective
against COVID-19 and said that seeing
health care professionals smoke led
them to believe smoking must not be
harmful. The intervention was delivered
to more than 160 smokers and consisted
of provision of a pamphlet, nicotine gum,
counselling sessions and discussions
via phone. The counseling sessions were
tailored to each participants’ situation.
For example, lower-income participants
were presented with the estimated cost
of smoking over 10 years and those
with children were informed about
the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Participants reported the intervention
was effective because it addressed the
particular barriers to quitting they faced.
IED, EA STUDIES IMPACT OF TRAINING
The Institute for Educational
Development, East Africa (IED) is
studying the impact of training it
provides to teachers and school leaders
in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. IED is
delivering workshops and mentoring
to instructors at teacher education
colleges and to trainees at leadership
colleges in each of the three countries.
The interventions aim to help develop
champion teacher educators and
school leaders who can create inclusive,
gender-sensitive learning environments.
Researchers will follow participants
over four years, examining their lesson
plans and other documents; observing
their teaching; and collecting data via
interviews and questionnaires. The
study aims to determine how successful
the interventions are and to help
shape teacher education and school
leadership programmes in the region.
THE MOSQUES OF SUB-
SAHARAN AFRICA
Historic Mosques in Sub-Saharan
Africa: From Timbuktu to Zanzibar
By Stéphane Pradines
Brill; 368 pages
There are hundreds of millions of
Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa, and their
ancestors have been building mosques
for more than a thousand years. Yet
this volume, the fruit of three decades
of research and fieldwork by Professor
Stéphane Pradines of AKU’s Institute
for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, is
40
the first comprehensive survey of the
region’s historic mosques. In a work
featuring more than 200 illustrations,
Pradines covers nearly 300 structures
in 22 countries, dating from the ninth
to the nineteenth centuries. “African
Islam is plural,” Pradines notes, and so
is its architecture, encompassing the
earthen buildings of the Niger valley, the
baked brick of Chad, the dry stone of
the horn of Africa and the limestone of
the Swahili Coast. While influenced by
Indian, Persian, Arab and North African
building styles, the mosque builders of
Sub-Saharan Africa developed their own
distinctive architectural vocabularies.
Rather than a footnote to the history
of Islamic architecture, Pradines
insists that the historic mosques of
Sub-Saharan Africa should be seen as
central to it and a part of humanity’s
heritage. As such, he says, they are
richly deserving of preservation and
greatly in need of further study.
WHAT IS ISLAMIC STUDIES?
What is Islamic Studies? European
and North American Approaches
to a Contested Field
Edited by Leif Stenberg and Philip Wood
Edinburgh University Press; 224 pages
AKU Research
This edited volume features nine essays
from scholars in six countries plus a
substantial introduction by the editors,
professors Leif Stenberg and Philip
Wood of AKU’s Institute for the Study of
Muslim Civilisations. No simple answer
to the question posed by its title is
offered. Rather, the editors sketch the
context in which the discipline of Islamic
Studies operates today. They discuss the
extent to which scholarly approaches
in North America and Europe vary by
country (reflecting national differences
in attitudes toward religion and
identity politics, differing degrees of
colonial entanglement and varying
experiences with Muslim migration);
the legacy of Edward Said’s Orientalism
and debates over the possibility of
objectivity; the attacks of September
11 and the rise of what one might
call well-intentioned essentializing;
and the influence of feminism.
Other features of the contemporary
context highlighted include the
prominence of the work of Talal Asad
and Shahab Ahmed (whose What is
Islam? Stenberg and Wood reference
in their title), and the growth of the
scholarly sub-field known as Quranic
studies over the last two decades.
The contributors mostly engage
with one or more of these features.
Wood takes up Asad’s argument that
the seemingly innocent category of
“religion” reflects the assumptions
of nineteenth century Protestantism
and is ill-equipped to deal with Islam.
But he suggests that it is not only
Christians who have consciously or
unconsciously sought to mould other
religions in the likeness of their own
faith – Muslims have done so too, based
on their expectations of what a religion
should look like. Stenberg, in a paper
co-authored with Professor Susanne
Olsson of Stockholm University, also
engages with challenges to the utility
of “religion” as a concept, arguing for
its retention, reconceptualization and
use “in a conditional, provisional and
contextual sense.” Looking to the future,
the editors conclude their introduction
by proposing an approach to the study
of religions that is “pre-ethical.” “In
this model,” they write, “the study of
religions and theology could enjoy a
similar relationship to (for instance)
the history of political thought and
political philosophy, in which the
first discipline provides an evidenced
grounding for a normative project.”
41
Research governance,
infrastructure and
training
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH COUNCIL
The University Research Council (URC)
was appointed in 1999 by the AKU
Board of Trustees. It is the University’s
apex body for research governance. The
Council consists of senior management
together with representatives of various
research constituencies within the
University. It has put in place a multi-
country system for ethical review of all
research involving human and animal
subjects and an institutional bio-ethics
safety committee to vet proposals
where required. The URC is supported
by a Grants Review Committee, which
evaluates proposals for funding from
AKU resources. Over the past decade,
the URC has awarded 174 intramural
research grants totaling more than $2.5
million. In 2022, 25 intramural grants
totaling $320,000 were awarded. Sixty
percent of awardees were women.
AKU Research
INSTITUTIONAL BIOSAFETY
COMMITTEE
The Institutional Biosafety Committee
(IBC) ensures that all research activities,
including intramural and extramural
grant applications, are reviewed in light
of national and international standards
before activity is initiated. Additionally,
the Committee provides oversight
to all material transfer agreements
(MTAs), ensuring compliance with
international shipping regulations. In
2022, the IBC’s grant review process was
upgraded to PeopleSoft, a software-
based system, where all extramural
grant proposals and MTAs are now
uploaded and approved. The IBC also
introduced and implemented an online
training programme for all research
staff at Juma Research Laboratory. A
total of 81 grant proposals and 38 MTAs
were reviewed in 2022. The Committee
strives to maintain an average
turnaround time from project receipt
to final decision of 10 working days.
GRADUATE STUDIES
Since the launch of AKU’s first graduate
programme in 1993, more than 2,800
students have earned degrees from
18 graduate programmes, ranging
from the Master of Education to the
Master of Science in Epidemiology
and Biostatistics. More than half of
graduates are women. The number of
PhD students at AKU has been steadily
increasing, with 47 PhD graduates
thus far and an additional 48 students
enrolled in doctoral programmes in
2022. The Office of Graduate Studies
ensures compliance with regulations
and policies governing the PhD
programmes and scrutinizes over 200
theses and dissertations each year.
42
ETHICS REVIEW BOARD
The Ethics Review Board reports to
the University Research Council and
is tasked with monitoring ethical
compliance in research, standardizing
review processes across eight Ethics
Review Committees on three continents
and addressing appeals. The Board
monitored 52 research studies for the
Faculty of Health Sciences in Pakistan
in 2022, amounting to 20 percent of
all projects. During 2022, it began
monitoring studies in Kenya, where 24
studies, representing 20 percent of all
projects, were randomly selected and
monitored for ethical compliance.
SHARED RESEARCH SERVICES
In October 2022, the Faculty of Health
Sciences in Pakistan established
the Office of Shared Research
Services. It facilitates all financial
and administrative aspects of grant
management, including pre-award,
post-award and close-out activities.
The SRS works in collaboration with
the Office of Research and Graduate
Studies, which is AKU’s global office for
research and grant administration.
AKU Research
ANIMAL RESEARCH FACILITY
The Animal Research Facility on the
Stadium Road campus in Karachi
caters to the needs of researchers
and educators in two purpose-built
buildings. The facility is managed by
the Animal Facility Committee and
overseen by the Ethics Committee for
Animal Care and Use (ECACU). The
latter reviews and approves proposals
for work with research animals, and
ensures ethical compliance, animal
well-being and biosafety for researchers
and facility staff. The ECACU conducts
an annual workshop “Principles of
Laboratory Animal Science”, which is
attended by local and international
attendees. The workshop is unique
in Pakistan, and contributes to
national capacity development.
AKU is pursuing international
accreditation for the facility to
ensure compliance with the highest
standards in care and use of animals.
JUMA RESEARCH LABORATORY
Located on the Stadium Road campus
in Karachi, Juma Research Laboratory
has Biosafety Level 2 and 3 facilities
and supports basic science research,
including research related to cancer
stem cells, antimicrobial resistance,
vaccines, drugs and maternal and child
health. Of the 32 research projects
currently ongoing at the laboratory,
two-thirds are externally funded.
The laboratory includes a genomics
facility that features state-of-the-art
technologies such as an Illumina MiSeq
machine and a Nanopore sequencer. The
laboratory is poised to undergo a major
renovation over the next few years.
43
Notable
publications
THE LANCET MICROBE:
ANTIMICROBIAL-RESISTANT
SALMONELLA TYPHI
In this genomic epidemiology study,
we sequenced the genomes of 3489 S
Typhi strains isolated from prospective
enteric fever surveillance studies
in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
and India (between 2014 and 2019),
and combined these with a global
collection of 4169 S Typhi genome
sequences isolated between 1905 and
2018 to investigate the temporal and
geographical patterns of emergence
and spread of antimicrobial-resistant
S Typhi. We performed non-parametric
phylodynamic analyses to characterise
changes in the effective population size
of fluoroquinolone-resistant, extensively
drug-resistant (XDR), and azithromycin-
resistant S Typhi over time. We inferred
timed phylogenies for the major S Typhi
sublineages and used ancestral state
reconstruction methods to estimate the
frequency and timing of international
and intercontinental transfers. Our
AKU Research
analysis revealed a declining trend of
multidrug resistant typhoid in south
Asia, except for Pakistan, where XDR
S Typhi emerged in 2016 and rapidly
replaced less-resistant strains.
da Silva KE, Tanmoy AM, Pragasam
AK, Iqbal J, Sajib MSI, Mutreja A,
Veeraraghavan B, Tamrakar D, Qamar
FN, Dougan G, Bogoch I, Seidman
JC, Shakya J, Vaidya K, Carey ME,
Shrestha R, Irfan S, Baker S, Luby SP,
Cao Y, Dyson ZA, Garrett DO, John
J, Kang G, Hooda Y, Saha SK, Saha S,
Andrews JR. The international and
intercontinental spread and expansion
of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella
Typhi: a genomic epidemiology study.
Lancet Microbe. 2022 Aug;3(8)
LANCET GLOBAL HEALTH:
HEALTH SERVICES IN KENYA
DURING THE PANDEMIC
This study assessed the effect of the
COVID-19 pandemic on essential
health-care services in Kenya. Using
county-level data from health facilities,
we examined changes in 17 indicators.
In the pre-pandemic period, we
observed a positive trend for multiple
indicators. The onset of the pandemic
was associated with statistically
significant decreases in outpatient
visits, cervical cancer screenings, HIV
tests, malaria testing, tuberculosis
cases, hypertension cases, vitamin A
supplements, and diphtheria, tetanus
toxoid, and pertussis vaccinations.
Pneumonia cases, diarrhea, and children
attending welfare clinics decreased
significantly, while cases of sexual
violence increased. Skilled deliveries,
antenatal care, people with HIV infection
starting antiretroviral therapy, confirmed
cases of malaria, and diabetes cases
44
were not significantly affected. Although
most of the health indicators began to
recover during the pandemic, the health-
care workers’ strike resulted in nearly
all indicators falling to numbers lower
than those observed at the onset or
during the pre-strike pandemic period.
Kiarie H, Temmerman M, Nyamai M, Liku
N, Thuo W, Oramisi V, Nyaga L, Karimi
J, Wamalwa P, Gatheca G, Mwenda
V, Ombajo LA, Thumbi SM; Essential
Health Services Data Monitoring and
Evaluation sub-working group. The
COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions
to essential health services in Kenya:
a retrospective time-series analysis.
Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Sep;10(9)
AKU Research
ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY:
EVALUATING PEMIGATINIB
The phase I/II FIGHT-101 study
(NCT02393248) evaluated safety,
pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics,
and preliminary efficacy of pemigatinib,
a potent and selective fibroblast growth
factor receptor (FGFR) 1-3 inhibitor, as
monotherapy or in combination therapy,
for refractory advanced malignancies,
with and without fibroblast growth
factor (FGF) and receptor (FGFR)
gene alterations. Eligible, molecularly
unselected patients with advanced
malignancies were included in part
1 (dose escalation; 3 + 3 design) to
determine the maximum tolerated dose.
Part 2 (dose expansion) evaluated the
recommended phase II dose in tumors
with or where FGF/FGFR activity is
relevant. Pemigatinib was associated
with a manageable safety profile
and pharmacodynamic and clinical
activity, with responses seen across
tumors and driven by FGFR fusions/
rearrangements and mutations. These
results prompted a registrational study
in cholangiocarcinoma and phase
II/III trials in multiple tumor types
demonstrating the benefit of precision
therapy, even in early phase trials.
Subbiah V, Iannotti NO, Gutierrez M,
Smith DC, Féliz L, Lihou CF, Tian C,
Silverman IM, Ji T, Saleh M. FIGHT-101,
a first-in-human study of potent and
selective FGFR 1-3 inhibitor pemigatinib
in pan-cancer patients with FGF/FGFR
alterations and advanced malignancies.
Ann Oncol. 2022 May;33(5)
45
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES:
DISEASES: THE PURPOSE STUDY JAMA PSYCHIATRY: DISEASE GROUP B STREPTOCOCCUS
OF NEONATAL DEATHS OUTBREAKS AND MENTAL HEALTH DISEASE SURVIVORS

A prospective, observational study
was conducted in delivery units
and neonatal intensive care units to
identify pathogens found in internal
organs and placentas of deceased
preterm infants cared for in hospitals
in India and Pakistan. Tissue samples
from deceased neonates obtained by
minimally invasive tissue sampling
and placentas were examined for 73
different pathogens using multiplex
polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Tissue
for pathogen PCR was obtained from
liver, lung, brain, blood, cerebrospinal
fluid, and placentas from 377 deceased
preterm infants. In organ samples from
deceased infants in India and Pakistan,
evaluated with multiplex pathogen PCR,
A. baumannii was the most commonly
identified organism, whereas Group
B streptococcus was rarely found.
A. baumannii was rarely found in the
placentas of these deceased neonates.
Findings from this study can help better
understand and address the factors
contributing to neonatal mortality.
Ghanchi NK, Ahmed I, Kim J, Harakuni
S, Somannavar MS, Zafar A, Tikmani
SS, Saleem S, Goudar SS, Dhaded SM,
Guruprasad G, Yogeshkumar S, Hwang
K, Aceituno A, Silver RM, McClure EM,
Goldenberg RL. Pathogens Identified
by Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling
in India and Pakistan From Preterm
Neonatal Deaths: The PURPOSE Study.
Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Feb 8;76(3)
A systematic scoping review was
conducted to identify the existing
evidence regarding the association of
mental health with outbreaks of the
influenza A (H1N1), Zika, Ebola, and
SARS-CoV-2 virus in exposed youth
and adolescents in LMICs. Across 6
databases, the mental health outcomes
of adolescents and youth associated
with 4 major pandemic outbreaks in
LMICs were reviewed. A total of 57
studies fulfilled the search criteria, 55
related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and
2 to the H1N1 influenza epidemics. The
studies reported high rates of anxiety
and depressive symptoms among
adolescents, including posttraumatic
stress disorder, general stress, and
health-related anxiety, suggesting that
the COVID-19 pandemic and H1N1
epidemic were associated with adverse
mental health among adolescents
and youth from LMICs. Geographically
localized disease outbreaks such
as Ebola, Zika, and H1N1 influenza
were deemed highly understudied
and warrant future investigation.
Kumar M, Akbarialiabad H, Kouhanjani
MF, Kiburi S, Shidhaye P, Taghrir MH,
Shidhaye R. Association of Major
Disease Outbreaks With Adolescent
and Youth Mental Health in Low- and
Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic
Scoping Review. JAMA Psychiatry.
2022 Dec 1;79(12):1232-1240. doi:
10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.3109.
PMID: 36223094.
A multicountry, matched cohort
study was carried out to assess
the emotional-behavioral problems
and psychopathological conditions
in survivors of invasive group B
Streptococcus (iGBS) disease,
specifically infant iGBS sepsis and
meningitis, including children aged 18
months to 17 years. Data was sourced
from health demographic surveillance
systems or hospital records in Argentina,
India, Kenya, Mozambique, and South
Africa. Children without an iGBS history
were matched to iGBS survivors for sex
and age. Our findings suggested that
school-aged iGBS survivors experienced
increased mild emotional behavioral
problems that may affect children and
families. At-risk neonates including
iGBS survivors need long-term follow-up
with integrated emotional-behavioral
assessments and appropriate care.
Chandna J, Liu WH, Dangor Z, Leahy S,
Sridhar S, John HB, Mucasse H, Bassat
Q, Bardaji A, Abubakar A, Nasambu C,
Newton CR, Sánchez Yanotti C, Libster
R, Milner K, Paul P, Lawn JE; GBS Low
and Middle income Collaborative
Group for Long-term Outcomes
group. Emotional and Behavioral
Outcomes in Childhood for Survivors
of Invasive Group B Streptococcus
Disease in Infancy: Findings From 5
Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Jan 20;74

AKU PUBLICATIONS IN PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS ANNUAL CITATIONS OF AKU PUBLICATIONS

2000
1476 80000 66024
1500 1274 1362
1125 60000
1050
884 889
1000 739 40000 27944
20000 9603
500 1041 3175
0
0 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
AKU authors published 1476 articles in peer-reviewed journals in 2022. Over the past two decades, publications authored by AKU faculty and students have been cited by an increasing
ISMC faculty authored and/or edited a total of six books during this period. number of articles. On average, annual citations increased by 24% annually between 2003 and 2022.

AKU Research 46 AKU Research 47


JAMA SURGERY: READMISSIONS
FROM VENOUS THROMBOEMBOLISM
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a
major cause of preventable morbidity
and mortality after cancer surgery.
Venous thromboembolism events
that are significant enough to require
hospital readmission are potentially
life threatening, yet data regarding the
frequency of these events beyond the
30-day postoperative period remain
limited. A retrospective cohort study
of the 2016 Nationwide Readmissions
Database was performed to study adult
patients readmitted with a primary VTE
diagnosis. Data obtained from 197 510
visits for 126 104 patients were analyzed.
VTE-related readmissions after complex
cancer surgery continued to increase
well beyond 30 days after surgery.
AKU Research
Quality improvement efforts to decrease
the burden of VTE in postoperative
patients should measure and account
for these late VTE-related readmissions.
Mallick S, Aiken T, Varley P, Abbott
D, Tzeng CW, Weber S, Wasif N,
Zafar SN. Readmissions From
Venous Thromboembolism After
Complex Cancer Surgery. JAMA
Surg. 2022 Apr 1;157(4):312-320. doi:
10.1001/jamasurg.2021.7126. PMID:
35080619; PMCID: PMC8792793.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY: IMMUNE
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF COVID-19
Many investigators have attempted to
elucidate the precise pathophysiological
mechanisms causing COVID-19
respiratory and systemic disease.
Spillover of lung-derived cytokines
causing a cytokine storm is considered
the cause of systemic disease.
However, recent studies have provided
contradictory evidence, whereby the
extent of cytokine storm is insufficient
to cause severe illness. These issues
are highly relevant, as management
approaches considering COVID-19
a classic form of acute respiratory
distress syndrome with a cytokine
storm could translate to unfounded
clinical decisions, detrimental to patient
trajectory. Additionally, the precise
immune cell signatures that characterize
disease of varying severity remain
48
contentious. We provide an up-to-date
review on the immune dysregulation
caused by COVID-19 and highlight
pertinent discussions in the scientific
community. We hope that this review
informs the aims of future research.
Shafqat A, Shafqat S, Salameh SA,
Kashir J, Alkattan K, Yaqinuddin
A. Mechanistic Insights Into
the Immune Pathophysiology of
COVID-19; An In-Depth Review. Front
Immunol. 2022 Mar 24;13:835104. doi:
10.3389/fimmu.2022.835104. PMID:
35401519; PMCID: PMC8989408.
AKU Research
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL
NUTRITION: EFFECTIVENESS
OF CASH TRANSFERS
In Pakistan, the prevalence of stunting
among children younger than 5 has
remained above WHO critical thresholds
(≥30%) over the past 2 decades. We
hypothesized that an unconditional
cash transfer (UCT) combined with
lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS)
and/or social and behavior change
communication (SBCC) will prevent
stunting among children 6–23 mo of
age. This was a 4-arm, community-
based cluster randomized controlled
trial conducted in the district of Rahim
Yar Khan, Pakistan. A total of 1729
children (UCT, n = 434; UCT + SBCC,
n = 433; UCT + LNS, n = 430; and UCT
+ LNS + SBCC, n = 432) were enrolled
at 6 months of age and measured
monthly for 18 months until the age of
24 months. UCT combined with LNS
and UCT + LNS + SBCC were effective
in reducing the prevalence of stunting
among children aged 6–23 months
in marginalized populations. UCT +
SBCC was not effective in reducing
the child stunting prevalence.
Soofi SB, Ariff S, Khan GN, Habib A,
Kureishy S, Ihtesham Y, Hussain M,
Rizvi A, Sajid M, Akbar N, Garzon C,
de Pee S, Bhutta ZA. Effectiveness
of unconditional cash transfers
combined with lipid-based nutrient
supplement and/or behavior change
communication to prevent stunting
among children in Pakistan: a cluster
randomized controlled trial. Am J
Clin Nutr. 2022 Feb 9;115(2):492-502.
doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab341. PMID:
34612491; PMCID: PMC8827069.
49
ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH: PESTICIDE
USE AND LUNG FUNCTION
Use of pesticides is implicated in
decrement in lung function, manifested
as restrictive or obstructive dysfunction
or both. Using comparative cross-
sectional study design, the authors
conducted the study to determine
an association of pesticide use with
impairment in lung function among
agricultural farmers. The data were
collected using modified American
Thoracic Society Division of Lung
Disease questionnaire and spirometer
measurements. Using multinomial
logistic regression, the risk of both
restrictive and obstructive lung
dysfunction was found to be almost
twice among pesticides users with
each increasing year of exposure to
pesticides (1.92 and 1.95, respectively)
after adjusting for other covariates.
AKU Research
There is a need for reliable monitoring
and reporting procedures along with
appropriate environmental policies and
regulations for handling of pesticides.
Interventional studies are needed where
farmers could be trained on the proper
use of personal protective equipment
(PPE) to limit exposure to pesticides.
Wadani ZH, Azam I, Irfan M, Fatmi
Z. Pesticides Use and Impaired
Lung Function Among Male
Agricultural Farmers in Rural Sindh,
Pakistan. Asia Pac J Public Health.
2022 Mar;34(2-3):230-235. doi:
10.1177/10105395211065647. Epub
2021 Dec 15. PMID: 34911377.
THE JOURNAL OF CRITICAL
CARE: CRITICAL CARE
RESOURCES IN PAKISTAN
To assess the baseline critical care
capacity of Pakistan, we conducted
a series of cross-sectional surveys
of hospitals providing COVID-19 care
across the country. These hospitals
were pre-identified by the Health
Services Academy, Pakistan. Surveys
were administered via telephonic and
on-site interviews and based on a
unique checklist for assessing critical
care units, which was created from the
Partners in Health 4S Framework, which
is: Space, Staff, Stuff, and Systems. These
components were scored, weighted
equally, and then ranked into quartiles.
A total of 106 hospitals were surveyed,
with the majority being in the public
sector (71.7%) and in the metropolitan
50
setting (56.6%). Almost all ranks showed
significant disparity between public-
private and metropolitan-rural settings,
with private and metropolitan hospitals
having a greater proportion in the 1st
rank, while public and rural hospitals had
a greater proportion in the lower ranks.
Khan MA, Shahbaz H, Noorali AA,
Ehsan AN, Zaki M, Asghar F, Hassan
MM, Arshad HM, Sohaib M, Asghar MA,
Khan MF, Sabeen A, Aqeel M, Khan MH,
Munir T, Amin SK, Atiq H, Haider AH,
Samad Z, Latif A. Disparities in adult
critical care resources across Pakistan:
findings from a national survey and
assessment using a novel scoring
system. Crit Care. 2022 Jul 11;26(1):209.
AKU Research
JOURNAL OF WORK-APPLIED
MANAGEMENT: THE PANDEMIC
AND ONLINE LEARNING AT AKU
The purpose of this research was contexts as all institutions and their
to focus on work-based problems students enter the new normal.
catalysed by the COVID-19 global
pandemic, based on a case study Khamis, Tashmin & Naseem, Azra &
of the Aga Khan University, a multi- Khamis, Anil & Petrucka, Pammla. (2021).
continental, multi-campus university. The COVID-19 pandemic: a catalyst
Higher education institutions (HEIs) for creativity and collaboration for
in developing countries lacked pre- online learning and work-based higher
existing infrastructure to support online education systems and processes.
education and/or policy and regulatory Journal of Work-Applied Management.
frameworks during the pandemic. The 10.1108/JWAM-01-2021-0010.
University’s programmes in Pakistan
and East Africa provide lessons to
other developing countries’ HEIs. The
University’s focus on teaching and
learning and staff development has had
a transformational organisational effect.
The paper provides important and
critical lessons and recommendations
to other institutions in similar
51
 AKU FACULTY MEMBERS HAVE CO-AUTHORED
PUBLICATIONS WITH RESEARCHERS FROM
EXTRAMURAL GRANT ACQUISITION 145 INSTITUTIONS IN 44 COUNTRIES.

350 318
293
300
263
250
203
182 191
200
157 148
135 145
150 119
102 102 109
88 93 84 94 92
100 69

50

0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Proposals submitted Proposals funded

Over the past decade, AKU received funding for 1,134 extramural grants.

GRANTS RECEIVED
(US$ IN MILLIONS)

100
89.9
90
80
70
60 53.45 3,500+ 1,000-3,500 250-1,000 1-250 No data available
50
38.3
40 30.64 32.3
30 24.06 23.12 This map shows the number of joint publications by faculty members from AKU and other
22.2 19.8
20 institutions by country, from 1983 to 2023. It shows how many peer-reviewed articles co-authored
11.99
by AKU researchers and researchers from a given country have appeared in scholarly journals.
10
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
The number of publications for Pakistan is 13,571
AKU received extramural grants worth $345.8 million over the past decade.

All data comes from Scopus.

AKU Research 52 AKU Research 53

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
NO. OF PUBLICATIONS (2017-2022)

61 34
236 163
2,737 75
148 21
235 16
54 4
15 6
81 178
During the period 2017 to 2022, more than 77% of publications authored or co-authored by AKU
researchers aligned with the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). These 4,064 publications
have garnered a total of 227,214 views and have been cited by 128,809 peer-reviewed articles.

AKU Research 54
 Office of Research & Graduate Studies
research.office@aku.edu | www.aku.edu/research