Prof Dr Aamer Ikram served in the Army Medical Corps of Pakistan for nearly 37 years, retiring in March 2023 as two-star general officer. During the last 6 years of service, including the challenging pandemic period, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Institutes of Health Pakistan. Prior to that he led the Microbiology Department at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and served at military hospitals and academic institutions across the country. He was instrumental in establishing the CDC Pakistan; National Data Center for Health Informatics; Vaccine Production Centre National University of Medical Sciences; Quetta Institute of Medical Sciences; and MedAsk, a private venture.

Dr. Ikram has been on the forefront of the COVID-19 response as National Coordinator for Pakistan. He received national and international recognition for exceptional achievements as CEO of NIH Pakistan. His current focus is on International Health Regulations, the Global Health Security, Integrated Disease Surveillance & Response, One-Heath, Biosafety & Biosecurity, and Antimicrobial Resistance. He pioneered biosafety and biosecurity awareness and training in Pakistan.

Dr Ikram is currently Chair of the Advisory Board for Training Programs in Epidemiology & Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET); member Technical Advisory Group–Biosafety, WHO; Strategic Advisor International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI); member Global Council International Vaccine Institute (IVI); Future Global Health Initiatives, Lusaka Agenda; Partnership for International Vaccine Initiatives (PIVI); Strategic Council Gulf CDC; International Biosafety & Biosecurity Initiative for Science (IBBIS); Executive Committee Institute of Safety in Technology & Research (ISTR); Regional Technical Advisor EMPHNET; member of the Governance Committee (ex-member Board) GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance. Previously, he has served on numerous international boards and committees focusing on epidemiology of infectious disease, health security and global public health including Chair Board of International Federation of Biosafety Associations; member TAG Health Security Interface WHO. He is an Adjunct Professor at Emory University.

Dr Ikram has a huge passion for academics and research and has collaborated with various international organizations. He has more than 400 publications including books and book chapters. He served on the editorial committee of the recently launched book from the US: Modernizing Global Health Security to Prevent, Detect, and Respond.

Dr Ikram graduated from Pakistan’s Army Medical College in 1987; completed a Diploma in Pathology in 1990; MCPS Clinical Pathology in 1991; Fellowship (FCPS) Microbiology in 1998; clinical training in the UK (2005); and PhD in microbiology from Baqai Medical University, Karachi, in 2014. He holds the Diploma Occupational Safety Health & Environments; Diploma Disaster Management; Certificate in Emerging Infectious Diseases from University of Iowa; and Dual-Use Biosecurity from Bradford University. He contributed globally to the fields of biosafety, biosecurity and infection control, completing courses at Harvard, Oxford, South Florida, Iowa, Chester, Bradford, UN, WHO, and US CDC. He attained qualification as Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) from the American Biological Safety Association (US); Biosafety Professional (BSP) from the Institute of Safety in Technology & Research (UK); and IFBA Certified Professional status. He was awarded FRCP by Royal College Edinburgh (2012); FRCPath by Royal College of Pathologists London (2014); and Fellowship in Public Health from Royal Colleges UK (2018). He is a Fellow and Councilor of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He received national awards of Hilale- Imtiaz (Military) and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military); and received ‘Biosafety Heroes Award’ from International Federation of Biosafety Associations.