ISLAMABAD — Pakistani physician Dr Anita Zaidi was elected to the NationalAcademy of Medicine this week.
The National Academy of Medicine is considered one of the highest honors inthe fields of health and medicine and it recognizes individuals who havedemonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the National Academy ofMedicine (NAM) is one of three academies that make up the NationalAcademies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies)in the United States.
Operating under the 1863 Congressional charter of the National Academy ofSciences, the National Academies are private, nonprofit institutions thatwork outside of government to provide objective advice on matters ofscience, technology, and health.
According to the Academy, Zaidi, president for gender equality and directorof vaccine development and surveillance and of enteric and diarrhealdiseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was elected “for globalleadership in paediatric infectious disease research and capacitydevelopment relevant to improving newborn and child survival in developingcountries.”
The Gates Foundation website says that since joining the foundation in 2014Zaidi has led a team focused on vaccine development for people in thepoorest parts of the world, surveillance to identify and address causes ofdeath in children in the most under-served areas, and significantlyreducing the adverse consequences of diarrheal and enteric infections onchildren’s health in low and middle-income countries.
It says, “Through this role, Anita champions innovative work on behalf oflow-income women and children, including the creation of the Women Leadersin Global Health program— now called WomenLift Health— to promote diversityin global health leadership. She also works closely with the foundation’sMaternal Newborn Child Health Discovery & Tools program.”
Anita was the department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at the AgaKhan University in Karachi, Pakistan, where she worked to reduce childmortality through the prevention and treatment of illness.
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Anita obtained her medical degree specializing in pediatric infectiousdiseases at Aga Khan University, and completed further training at DukeUniversity, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and theHarvard School of Public Health. To date, Anita has published more than 200research papers on vaccine-preventable diseases and newborn infections inresource-limited settings.
In 2013, Anita became the first recipient of the $1 million CaplowChildren’s Prize for her pioneering work bringing health services andwraparound care to mothers and children in poverty-stricken communities inKarachi. She was also nominated as a notable physician of the year in 2014by Medscape.
“It is my privilege to welcome this extraordinary class of new members.Their contributions to health and medicine are unmatched – they’ve madegroundbreaking discoveries, taken bold action against social inequities,and led the response to some of the greatest public health challenges ofour time,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau.
“This is also the NAM’s most diverse class of new members to date, composedof approximately 50 percent women and 50 percent racial and ethnicminorities. This class represents many identities and experiences – all ofwhich are absolutely necessary to address the existential threats facinghumanity. I look forward to working with all of our new members in theyears ahead.”
The newly elected members bring NAM’s total membership to more than 2,200and the number of international members to approximately 172.
