People

Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, M.B.B.S., D.C.H., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.P.C.H., F.C.P.S., F.A.A.P., Ph.D. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta is the Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, co-director of the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, and the founding director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University. He also holds adjunct professorships at several leading universities, including the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, Tufts University, Boston University School of Public Health, University of Alberta, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is Distinguished National Professor of the Government of Pakistan and was the founding chair of Pakistan’s National Research Ethics Committee from 2003 to 2014. Bhutta was a member of the Independent Expert Review Group (iERG) appointed by the UN Secretary General for monitoring global progress in maternal and child health MDGs (2011 to 2015). He represented the global academic and research organizations on the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (Gavi) board, and he also serves on Gavi’s Evaluation Advisory Committee. Bhutta was the co-chair of the Global Countdown for 2015 and 2030 Initiatives (2006 to 2017). He is the co-chair of the Maternal and Child Health oversight committee of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region and the chairman of the Coalition of Centres in Global Child Health, whose secretariat is based at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. He is a technical member of the high-level UN Health and Human Rights committee and an executive committee member of Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH). Bhutta was educated at the University of Peshawar and obtained his Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh and London), the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (London), American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He heads a large research team in Pakistan working on issues of maternal, newborn, and child survival and nutrition globally and regionally. Bhutta has served as a member of WHO’s Global Advisory Committee for Health Research, the board of the Child and Health and Nutrition Initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, and the steering committees of the International Zinc and Vitamin A Nutrition Consultative Groups. He was a founding board member of the PMNCH and a board member of the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research (2011 to 2017). Bhutta was a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Committee for Vaccines (SAGE) from 2010 to 2015 and the Advisory Committee for Health Research of the WHO EMRO. He is the former president of the Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (CAPGAN) and the Federation of Asia-Oceania Perinatal Societies (FAOPS). He is the current president of the International Pediatric Association (2016 to 2019), and he serves as a leading voice for health professionals supporting integrated maternal, newborn, and child health globally. Bhutta is on several international editorial advisory boards, including the Lancet, BMJ, PLoS Medicine, PLoS ONE, BMC Public Health, and the Cochrane CDPLG and ARI groups. He has published eight books, 88 book chapters, and more than 800 indexed publications to date, including more than 150 in the world’s leading journal, Lancet. He is one of the most highly cited academics in global health (H index 117, i10 index 537, with more than 72,000 citations) and was ranked among the top 1 percent of highly cited researchers globally by the Web of Science in 2017. He has been a leading member of major Lancet series on child survival (2003), newborn survival (2005 and 2014), undernutrition (2008 and 2013), primary care (2008), stillbirths (2011 and 2016), and Pakistan (2013). He has also been a leading member of the recent series on childhood diarrhea and pneumonia (2013) and early child development (2016), and Lancet commissions on education for health professionals for the 21st century (2010), women and health (2015), indigenous health (2016), and adolescent health (2016). He has won several awards, including the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) by the president of Pakistan for contributions to education and research (2000), the president of Pakistan’s gold medal for contributions to child health in Pakistan (2004), and the Outstanding Pediatrician of Asia award by the Asia Pacific Pediatric Association (2006). He is the first dual recipient of the Aga Khan University Distinguished Faculty Award for Research (2005) and Award of Distinction (2012). Bhutta was awarded the inaugural Programme for Global Pediatric Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to Global Child Health (2009) and the Kenneth Warren Prize for the best systematic review of community-based interventions by the Cochrane collaboration (2011). Bhutta was awarded the Global Advocacy Prize by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (2012), the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Sam Fomon Award for lifetime contributions to nutrition research (2014), the WHO Ihsan Dogramaci Family Health Award (2014), the inaugural TUBA Academy of Sciences Award for global contributions to health and life sciences (2015), University of Toledo Medical Missions Hall of Fame Award (2016), and the Geneva Forum for Health Award for contributions to maternal and child health globally (2016). In August 2016, Bhutta was recognized with the president of Pakistan Pride of Performance Award for contributions to education and health. In November 2016, the World Academy of Sciences (Trieste) awarded him the TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences, and in 2017 the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology rated Bhutta as the highest ranking scientist from Pakistan across all disciplines. In November 2017, he was recognized by the Senate of Canada with its Canada 150 Medal for contributions to global child health. Bhutta’s research interests include newborn and child survival, maternal and child undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. He leads large research groups based in Karachi, Nairobi, and Toronto, with a special interest in research synthesis, expanding evidence-based interventions in community settings, and implementation research in health systems research. His work on community health staff and outreach services has influenced integrated maternal and newborn outreach programs for marginalized populations globally. His group’s work with WHO and PMNCH in developing consensus-based essential interventions for women, children, and adolescents is the dominant set of agreed interventions guiding global policy.