Aga Khan University paediatrician receives American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene award

AKU’s Chair of Paediatrics & Child Health, Dr Fyezah Jehan, has been selected as a Distinguished International Fellow of the prestigious American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for her accomplishments in research, advocacy and service for malnourished mothers, children and infectious diseases.

The award was granted at the Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans at a ceremony with ASTMH President Dr. Linnie Golightly and CEO Jamie Bay Nishi. The award is conferred in recognition of outstanding accomplishment by an individual who is not an American citizen and has made “eminent contributions to some phase of tropical medicine and hygiene.”

One of Dr Fyezah’s key interventions leveraged ready-to-use supplemental foods through peri-urban clinics in Karachi, reaching over 10,000 women and children at risk of malnutrition. She collaborated with Rotary International and the Trust for Malnutrition and Stunted Growth to develop initiatives aimed at early diagnosis and management of malnutrition among children and pregnant women; work that earned her recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow.

In the MUMTA trial, Dr Fyezah led a team that studied the impact of balanced energy protein supplementation, along with micronutrients in pregnant and breastfeeding women on newborn outcomes. This effort, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is groundbreaking in examining how targeted maternal nutrition can support early brain health. Her work on the Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) biobank, established in collaboration with the World Health Organization and institutions across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, is the first population level in-country biobank in pregnancy and newborns making groundbreaking discovery in the biology of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Additionally, Dr Fyezah has worked on reshaping pneumonia treatment guidelines for children and more efficient diagnostic and treatment protocols to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and prevent antibiotic resistance. She has published over 100 papers on topics such as vaccine equity, child health interventions, and infectious diseases.

Dr Fyezah is the second Pakistani and AKU faculty to have received this award. Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta received it in 2018.