Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show Professor Dr. Raheel Qamar - Head, Directorate of Science and Technology - ICESCO - Rabat, Morocco
Prof Dr. Raheel Qamar, is a Tenured Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Former Rector at the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS University - Islamabad), an international organization aiming to reduce the growing gap between the developed and developing world through useful applications of science and technology. Prof. Qamar is also the current Head of the Directorate of Science and Technology, of The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO - Rabat, Morocco), which is an international non-profit organization emanating from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, specializing in the fields of education, science and culture. The Directorate of Science and Technology focuses on overcoming the challenges of the Islamic world, by promoting the adoption of modern technologies, acquisition or improvement of competences in new technologies at all levels, use of new tools and methods for knowledge based development and growth, fostering technology based economy, bridging the gender gap in science and technology, promoting sustainable natural resource management and environmental governance, and strengthening the resilience and preparedness for the natural disasters and climate change impacts. The Directorate engages national and international partners from academic communities, scientific institutions, governments, international organizations, national policy making bodies and civil society to address these challenges, and strengthen the solidarity among stakeholders by developing strong networks for engagement, collaboration and interaction to share expertise, techniques and tools. Prof. Qamar's research specialization includes Enzymology, Population & Molecular Genetics and Molecular Pathology, and is particularly interested in searching for the molecular basis of all forms of inherited diseases in the Pakistani populations. After obtaining an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Peshawar, Prof. Qamar worked as a Scientific Officer at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan. He then proceeded to the USA to work on his Ph.D. in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of North Texas, as well as a Research Associate at the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth. Before joining COMSATS, Prof. Qamar served at Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories as a Senior and Principal Scientific Officer, worked for a while with Dr. Chris Tyler-Smith at the Department of Biochemistry, at Oxford, and as Research Director of Shifa College of Medicine.