KARACHI – Prominent Pakistani scientist Prof. Dr. M. Raza Shah, Director of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, has been awarded the Hajra Biloo Gold Medal for National Health Research in Basic Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contributions to promoting health and education.
An ICCBS spokesperson said on Monday that Prof. Dr. M. Raza Shah, who also holds the UNESCO Chair on Medicinal and Bioorganic Natural Product Chemistry at Karachi University, received the Hajra Biloo Gold Medal during the 6th International Medical Research Conference (IMRC). The conference was organized by the Health Research Advisory Board (HealthRAB) at the Getz Pharma Auditorium in Karachi. It is worth mentioning that HealthRAB is a think tank comprising senior clinicians, researchers, and academicians who are actively engaged in developing Pakistan’s health research ecosystem.
According to the spokesperson, Prof. Shah was also recently appointed as a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the WHO International Traditional Medicine Clinical Trial Registry. He is currently working in the field of Nanomedicine and clinical trials.
Prof. Shah completed his doctoral research in 2003 under a sandwich program between the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, and ICCBS. He later pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. He has over 520 research publications with a cumulative impact factor exceeding 1800, more than 11,450 citations, and an H-index of 55. He has authored seven books, edited four books, and written nine chapters published by Elsevier. He also holds several US and Pakistani patents.
Prof. Shah’s accolades include the Khwarizmi International Award (with a USD 20,000 prize from the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology), the civil award Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (2014), Dr. Raziuddin Prize (2015), Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman Gold Medal by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, the Avicenna Science & Innovation Award (2015) by Brain Trust UK, and the Abdus Salam Award in Chemistry (2006). He was named a TWAS Young Affiliate in 2010 by the World Academy of Sciences and was listed among the top scientists of 2019 by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Prof. Shah currently serves as President of the Chemical Society of Pakistan, a Fellow of multiple prestigious organizations, and the Editor of the Journal of the Chemical Society of Pakistan.
He has led 23 BE-PK clinical trials, five Phase II trials, and one Phase III trial for multinational pharmaceutical companies as Principal Investigator. He also led Pakistan’s Phase I clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Prof. Dr. Khalid Mehmood Iraqi, and Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, Professor Emeritus and former Federal Minister for Science and Technology, extended their congratulations to Prof. Raza Shah on this achievement.
