Mentors are Pakistani Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, Professors, Teachers, Businessmen and other Professionals that volunteer their time to assist students and new Pakistani international students. Mentors are great sources of information. CPA can match you with a mentor that will help you to build your social network, and provide you with academic coaching.
Dr. Syed A Aziz
Dr. Syed A Aziz did his Ph.D. in Breast Cancer Genetics from University of Karachi, Pakistan in 2003. Completed one year postdoctoral training from University of Ottawa in 2006. Since 2006 he is working in Health Canada as a Research Scientist working mainly on breast cancer. He has a cross appointment as Adjunct Professor of Pathology, University of Ottawa since 2009. Dr. Aziz is involved in the teaching for more than 25 years and has taught at different institutes. At University of Ottawa Dr. Aziz is teaching different modules to the medical students since 2009. He is extensively involved in research and supervises students at a level of Co-op, honours, MSc, Ph.D. and Post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Aziz and his students have been presenting the work in different conferences around the world. Dr. Aziz has given more than 200 lectures as an invited speaker and has authored or contributed to more than 110 original publications, book chapters, reviews, and abstracts. He is editing a book in which he is contributing seven chapters.
Dr. Aziz is also a member of executive committee of medical student admissions at University of Ottawa. He is also an Editor of PLoS ONE, Human Molecular Genetics, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, British Medical Journal, Annals of Clinical Pathology and he is also a member of the external review committee for National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Dr. Aziz is a visiting professor/consultant at Dow University of Health Sciences, Advanced Educational Institute and Research center and University of Lahore. Since 2010 he is delivering lecture on line once a week to the students in Pakistan on different topics pertaining to medical and health sciences under the auspices of AEIRC and APPNA. He can be reached atsaziz@uottawa.ca
Effective Communication: Presented by Dr. Syed A Aziz
Please click the following link to see his presentation.
Dr. Atiq Rehman is a Part-Time Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences since 2010. In addition to teaching at the University, Dr. Rehman works for Health Canada as a Senior Scientific Evaluator at Bureau of Nutritional Sciences, Food Directorate since 2002. Food Directorate is the federal health authority responsible for establishing policies, setting standards and providing advice and information on the safety and nutritional value of food. Dr. Rehman holds MSc (Hons) in Nutrition from Pakistan and PhD from the University of Western Australia, Australia.
At the University of Ottawa, Dr. Rehman teaches an undergraduate course titled “Nutritional Determinants of Health.” As a senior regulatory officer at Health Canada, he contributes in safety assessment of additives used in food, and foods derived from genetically engineered crops, animal biotechnology, or new emerging technologies like high pressure processing, nanotechnology. He is a member of a Canadian Standards Association’s Technical Committee who recently drafted first national standard on cellulosic nanomaterials. He also contributes on a number of international regulatory initiatives related to food safety led by OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and Codex Alimentarius (WHO/FAO).
Before joining Health Canada, Dr. Rehman worked as a Senior Research Scientist at National Agricultural Research Council in Pakistan. As a senior scientist, he worked on several international research projects in collaboration with a number of organizations including, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and Australian Center for International Agricultural Research. He has published his work in various international scientific journals, received a number of awards, and invited speaker at a number of international conferences. In addition to the research work, he assisted a number of master students in completing their research projects and supervised research work of a PhD candidate registered at Aberdeen University, UK. He can be reached at rehman_atiq@hotmail.com
Mr. Saleem Sattar
Mr. Saleem Sattar was born and raised in Ottawa. He did his B.Sc., B.A.Sc. in Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Ottawa and was recruited into the public service in 1997.
Saleem spent most of his career at Transport Canada where he occupied positions of increasing responsibility before becoming a manager in 2004. Saleem’s time at Transport Canada was primarily in the field of environmental management where he worked with airport and port operators to minimize the environmental impacts of their operations. He worked on various environmental initiatives including, waste reduction, energy and water conservation, air and water quality improvement, contaminated site remediation and phase outs of regulated products and substances.
Saleem moved to the Department of National Defence in 2010 where he continued to work in the field of environmental management. He managed various portfolios including hazardous materials, pollution prevention, contaminated sites and environmental compliance.
In April 2013, Saleem joined the executive ranks of the Public Service becoming Director Land Environment in the Canadian Army. He leads a team of 13 professionals and is responsible for a program of about $10M. He can be reached at supersattar@gmail.com
Dr. Sarwar Gilani
Holding a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Gilani is an internationally recognized expert in assessing safety, nutritional quality and health aspects of foods and dietary supplements. He has participated as a member in the WHO/FAO Expert Consultations on Protein and Energy Requirements and Protein Quality Assessment of Foods for Human Nutrition, and in the FDA Advisory Panel on Safety of Infant Formulas. Dr. Gilani worked as a Senior Research Scientist in Health Canada for 34 years, having retired in 2011. He has been an Adjunct Professor at McGill and Laval Universities and has supervised research of graduate students at Universities of Toronto and Ottawa. Since retirement from Health Canada, he has been advising governments and industry about health aspects of foods. He is serving as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the AOAC International (Association of the Official Analytical Communities).The author of more than 150 research papers and review articles, published in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Gilani is also the senior editor of the American Oil Chemists Society’s leading book on “Phytoestrogens and Health”. Dr. Gilani made significant contributions to promote scientific and educational capacity building and to alleviate malnutrition in Pakistan and advised the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations on the introduction and consumption of safe biofortified crops in developing countries to reduce malnutrition. For his significant scientific contributions in food safety and human nutrition to Canadians and international community, Dr. Gilani was a recipient of the Commemorative Medals for the Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and for Her Diamond Jubilee in 2013 and of Health Canada’s Award for Excellence in Science in 2004. He can be reached at gilanisarwar@rogers.com
Mr. Alam Ansari
Mr. Alam Ansari is a professional engineer. He has a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota USA. He specializes in infrastructure design and construction management. Mr. Ansari has been working for an international engineering consulting firm in Ottawa for about 15 years as a Senior Project Manager. He has in the past worked for multinational engineering firms in USA, Pakistan and the Middle East.
Mr. Ansari immigrated to Canada in late 90s and has established himself as a successful engineer. His work includes design and construction of residential and commercial developments in Ottawa and surrounding communities. He recently completed the infrastructure design of US border crossing at Prescott and some major projects in military bases in Petawawa and Trenton.
One of Mr. Ansari’s daughter graduated from Carelton University and now works for CMHC. His other daughter is a journalism student at Carleton University. He can be reached at ansarial@hotmail.com
Dr. Asma Iqbal,
Dr. Asma did her PhD. in Molecular parasitology from University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She did her MPhil, MSc and BSc (Honors) in Biochemistry from University of Karachi. Dr. Asmaworked at WHO Collaborative Laboratory for Tropical Diseases, in Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva-Switzerland. Afterword’s, she joined the Colorectal Cancer and Metastasis laboratory as a Research Officer at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, she contributed to excellence in cancer research as a member of a research team. Later on, she got attached with the molecular parasitology laboratory at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Her PhD work focused on the diversity of species, genotypes and subgenotypes of waterborne parasite (Cryptosporidium and Giardia species). She combined traditional identification techniques with molecular techniques for the detection of parasites. Currently, she is working as Natural Science & Engineering Research Council-Visiting Fellow in Government Laboratories. Her area of expertise is Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Parasitology, Food and Waterborne Pathogen, Research Methodology and Biosensor. Currently, she is working on projects that lead to the development of DNA-aptamers (biosensor) for the detection of protozoan parasites, in fresh produce and water sources in Canada. Secondly, she is involved in genetic diversity ofToxoplasma gondiiin marine mammals, country food and retail meat. Dr. Asma has got several publication to her credit, received several national and international grants. She is extensively involved in research and supervises many students at a level of Co-op, honours, and MSc. Dr. Asma is also a member of reviewers’ committee of scientific journals (Parasite and Vector, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Applied Environmental Microbiology) and advisory board member of “Reviews of Progress” international weekly medical research journal. She edited Text Book of Histology Clinical & Functional, for Undergraduate & Postgraduate Medical and Dental Students, Vol 1 & 2 printed by Higher Education Commission, Islamabad-Pakistan. She also edited f 2nd edition of both volumes of Text Book of Histology Clinical & Functional, printed by University Malaya Printing Press, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. She can be reached at aizaidi306@gmail.com