Centenary meeting of the Advanced Studies and Research Board of Khyber Medical University

The Advanced Studies and Research Board of Khyber Medical University conducted its 100th meeting on May 26, 2021. The meeting was attended by the three ex-vice chancellors of the university Prof. Muhammad Daud, Prof Muhammad Hafeezullah, and Prof. Arshad Javaid as chief guests and Dr Shaheen Afridi, from the health department as the Guest of Honour. The meeting was presided by the current vice-chancellor Prof. Zia Ul Haq and attended by the ASRB members and proposed Deans of the different faculties of the university. Also in attendance were the directors of the constituent institutes of the University. Prof. Zia ul Haq welcomed the meeting attendees and in his speech reiterated the strong emphasis of the university on research that is aimed at providing solutions to the health problems at the national, regional and international level. He emphasized his commitment and support to advance high-quality student and faculty research at the university. Dr Zohaib Khan, the director of the office of research, innovation, and commercialization, being the secretary of the board appraised the participants of the achievements of the ASRB and the University in terms of research output. The ASRB in just a short span of nine years has been able to have 100 meetings and has evaluated more than 1400 research proposals in the process. The participants were told that the university has more than 500 million as its annual research budget and the quality of research done by its faculty members has led to the KMU being labeled as “Research Intensive” by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Shaheen Afridi lauded the efforts of the KMU in terms of evidence synthesis and highlighted the importance of local evidence generation to bring innovation in health service delivery and make these services more effective. Prof. Arshad Javaid emphasized the importance of human values to be amalgamated with the teaching and research processes at KMU. He lauded the services of the current administration, while also acknowledging the strong foundations for research and teaching laid down during the tenures of previous custodians of the university. Prof. Hafeezullah pointed out that the university shall now take a leading role in shaping healthcare delivery in the process through timely and robust data generation that can inform both policy and practice. Being a founding chair of the ASRB he reminisced on the humble beginnings of the board and was praiseful for the rapid progress made by the university in the field of academia. Prof. Daud reminded the house about the responsibilities that the faculty of KMU has on its shoulder being the shepherd of health sciences teaching and research in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged them to keep abreast with the latest developments to be at the cutting edge of research. There was a cake-cutting ceremony at the end followed by appreciation awards to Dr. Zeeshan Kibria, Mr. Azmat Ali, Mr. Noman Nazir, and Mr. Zafar Afridi. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks from prof. Zia Ul Haq, who once more committed that the university will do its best to top national rankings and make an entry into the international research intensiveness rankings.