Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta FRS: Global Leader in Maternal and Newborn Health
Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta FRS is a Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Distinguished University Professor, and Founding Director of the Institute for Global Health and Development and the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, at the Aga Khan University. He also holds the Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and is the Ibn[1]Sina Scholar in Global Child Health, unique joint appointments with AKU. His work with community health workers and outreach services has influenced integrated maternal and newborn health and nutrition outreach programs for marginalized populations all over the world.
The last 12 months have seen several notable global recognitions for Prof Bhutta. Recently, Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta, FRS was ranked among the top 100 scientists in medicine in the first edition of the top scientists ranking for medicine published by Research.com, one of the major knowledge centres for medicine research. Further, Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta was presented the “John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award” for outstanding achievements in global health research in April 2022. The Award recognizes some of the world’s most significant biomedical and global health research. The Gairdner Awards are widely regarded as Canada’s most prestigious prizes for medical science and the Global Health Award, is one of the highest awards in this discipline worldwide. The Gairdner Foundation annually honours laureates for their contributions to the world’s most significant biomedical and global health research and discoveries. In addition to five international awards, one award is for scientific leadership in Canada and the global health award goes to a scientist whose advances have a significant impact on health outcomes in the developing world. The Award recognized Dr. Bhutta for his work on the development and evaluation of evidence-based interventions in child and maternal health for marginalized populations focusing on outcomes for the essential ‘first thousand days of life covering pregnancy, childbirth, and the developmental phases in the first two years of life.
Last December Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta was awarded another prestigious award, the 2021 Roux Prize for turning evidence into health impact. Mr. and Mrs. Roux said “Professor Bhutta has had a tremendous impact on maternal and child health, as a researcher and a leader. We are thrilled to honour his incredible work and commitment to reducing health inequities.” The Roux Prize is administered by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and is funded by founding board member David Roux and his wife, Barbara. Launched in 2013, it is the world’s largest award for evidence-based public health achievement and draws nominations from across the world.
Most recently, Prof Bhutta was awarded the American Society of Nutrition Robert and Leslie Suskind Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 for contributions to international nutrition. He has received several leading awards in global health during his career spanning almost four decades, including the Sam Fomon Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics for lifetime achievements in Nutrition (2015), the WHO Family Health prize (2014), the TUBA Science Award (2015), the McKinsey Global Health award (2015) and the TWAS Science Award in Medical Sciences (2017). He was also recognized by the Senate of Canada with its Canada 150 Medal for contributions to Global Child Health. Dr. Bhutta was admitted to the US National Academy of Medicine in October 2018, the highest academic and scientific platform in North America. He was a member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for Health since its inception in 2018 and Chairs the Board of Governors of the National Institutes of Health, Pakistan, and the Health Sciences & Allied disciplines panel of the Higher Education Commission Pakistan. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the oldest science body in the UK in 2020.
Pakistan Academy of Sciences congratulates Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, FRS on his remarkable achievements.