The International Student Research Conference, organized by students from AKU’s Medical College, brought together over 1000 students from 30 universities for two days of networking and learning.
The conference, themed ‘Assembling Today’s Brightest for Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs’ featured carefully curated scientific and teaching sessions, journal clubs, hospitality sessions, meetings with professors, and poster presentations.
Keynote speaker Dr Hasan Badre Alam, Chair of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, encouraged students to find a purpose stating, ‘At the start of your academic journey, you must create a purpose that can sustain you for years to come. We encourage students to identify a surgical problem that needs a solution – a problem that you care deeply about, which is broad enough to be meaningful and important enough for people, institutions, and funding agencies to care about. We advise students to have powerful longterm goals, and attainable shortterm goals. They should know what their unique superpower is.’
The conference also provided an opportunity for young students from diverse backgrounds to network, exchange ideas, learn from each other’s poster presentations and engage with professors regarding their research interests. The connections they made at the conference can spark future collaborations in their respective research areas.
Dr Sohail Khan, Chief Executive Officer at Aria Institute of Medical Sciences and an AKU alumnus, shared his inspiring journey of returning to Pakistan to create a hospital and a research institute in Quetta. ‘Leadership is about taking your organization into the future. It is about having a vision, a goal – and aligning and empowering people to work towards that goal,’ said Dr Khan.
The teaching sessions instilled the necessary skills needed to undertake research projects at varying levels of expertise, with something for everyone from the novice investigator to the expert researcher, while the talks highlighted the importance of research serving the communities where it is generated. Journal Clubs, modeled on book clubs, were a popular part of the conference, as students got the chance to discuss research papers with faculty, on the topics of bioinformatics, public health, obstetrics and gynecology, anaesthesia, and dentistry.
Dr Russell Martins, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Hackensack Meridian Health taught students to never doubt the influence of their research as it fills a gap, has impact and highlights issues that need solving. An impactful session on ‘Overcoming Inequities in Women’s Health’, raised critical issues in women’s health giving the participants food for thought. Dr Zahra Hoodbhoy expressed that ‘Women’s health and maternal health should be separated as women seek care only while pregnant because that’s the only time they are cared for – they are seen as a vehicle for carrying babies.’
Dr Fyezah Jehan’s discussion on the HPV vaccine was a pertinent example to show young researchers how research is linked to policy and practice. She announced that the Government of Sindh and Punjab will be implementing the HPV vaccine in school going girls as a result of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health’s research and advocacy.