KARACHI: PhD, MPhil studies in molecular medicines
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 25: Training of the first batch of one PhD and 30 MPhil students at the Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicines and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi, will commence on July 31.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday at the HEJ Institute of Chemistry, Dr M Iqbal Choudhary, co-director of the PCMD, said that after two admission exercises in all 31 students, including three foreign nationals, had been selected for MPhil and PhD programmes in the area of molecular medicines and drug development.
The centre, which has been established with the financial support of Nadira Panjwani, daughter of Dr Mohammad Hussain Panjwani and made functional about two years back, has a capacity of postgraduate level academic activities for 60 students.
Since the molecular medicine discipline was a new discipline, we can not find graduates having relevant degrees but picked candidates for PhD and MPhil courses on merit from among those having degrees in the biological sciences or allied health discipline, Dr Choudhary replied to a questioner.
He said that the main objective of the centre, which was second of its kind in the subcontinent and first in the Muslim world, to train qualified manpower in this emerging field.
The academician, clinicians and pharmaceutical researchers have been brought together under one roof of the PCMD to translate basic scientific discoveries into new therapies, vaccines and diagnostic tests, he added, saying that the centre was involved in developing a greater and more comprehensive understanding of the pattern and causes of the most common diseases of Pakistan.
After one year of class works, the candidates would accomplish research studies and related works under the supervision of different faculty members of the PCMD. The percentage of woman candidates in the present batch of 31 is around 60, he informed the newsmen.
Dr Choudhary viewed that 10 per cent of the graduates of the first batch may be absorbed as faculty members at the PCMD, while the rest would be serving other institutions, including varsities where the molecular medicine subject was yet to be introduced as a full- fledged discipline, in the country.
He said that the PCMD at present had 11 faculty members, including two foreigners, while more faculty members were to be hired under the Higher Education Commission’s “foreign faculty hiring programme”.
He mentioned that immunology unit and tissue culture section had already started function at the PCMD, while on the other hand works pertaining to enzyme inhibition studies, antioxidant studies and other bioassay activities were also in progress.
