Overview
The national site has its genesis and long efforts led by the University of Karachi dedicated for educating and researching on natural product chemistry when the University of Karachi's Department of Chemistry established the "Postgraduate Institute of Chemistry" in 1967.: 25 [1] Upon retiring from his public services as chairman of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was employed as its chief scientist who was instrumental of establishing the national site who secured initial funding for his Institute of Chemistry when he witnessed his physicist colleagues establishing the national laboratory in physics in Nilore.: 25 [1]
The national laboratory site was finally established in its current form with the generous private funding ($500,000 in 1976, $2.25 million as of 2020 [4] ) from the HEJ Foundation in 1976, and bares the name of Hussain Ebrahim Jamal.: 25 [1] At the time, this represented the largest private donation in nation's history to establish the national laboratory site in the country.: 25 [1] Later, the national laboratory site was certified for federal funding and began supporting his research efforts as parallel to KRL and PINSTECH from the sponsorship of the Ministry of Defense and later the Higher Education Commission. [2]
Atta-ur-Rahman succeeded in obtaining grants to acquire a new mass spectrometers and NMR spectrometers, both of which were installed in 1973, within a year of his return to Pakistan. He was appointed as the Co-Director in 1977. He succeeded in winning several major projects for the institute which established the institute in the field of Natural Product Chemistry. A generous donation was offered to the University for the Institute by Latif Ebrahim Jamal on behalf of the Husein Ebrahim Jamal Foundation in 1976, the largest donation at that time in the history of the country. The Institute was accordingly named as "Husein Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry", in the memory of late Husein Ebrahim Jamal.
Atta-ur-Rahman was appointed as the Director in January 1990, [5] while Viqar Uddin Ahmad took over as Co-Director in 1990. [6] In 1999, Professor Bina S. Siddiqui was appointed as the Co-Director [7] on the retirement of Professor Ahmad, while in 2002 M. Iqbal Choudhary was given the responsibilities of the Director (Acting) of ICCBS and Co-Director of Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research. In September 2008, he was appointed as the Director of the ICCBS institutions. [8]
The institute has organized a number of major international conferences and symposia on various aspects of Natural Product Chemistry, Spectroscopy, and Protein Chemistry. The institute hosted the 19th IUPAC Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry in January 1994 in which over 500 scientists from 52 countries, including 4 Nobel Laureates participated. [9]
Additionally, the Institute has also been selected as one of the three library centers of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). The H.E.J. Institute has been designated as the W.H.O. Center for Pesticide Analysis for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The institute is also a member of the IUCN-International, WAITRO, and COMSATS. More recently the institute is designated as the OIC Center of Excellence in Chemical Sciences. In 2001, the H.E.J. Research Institute became a constituent institution of the International Center for Chemical Sciences (later named as International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences). [10]
In 2004, the H.E.J. Research Institute received the prestigious IDB (Islamic Development Bank) prize for the best science institution in the entire Islamic world. [11] Recently, the IDB awarded the best science institution again to the H.E.J. Research Institute (second time), an unprecedented honor to any science institution in the OIC region. [12]
In August 2003, an Industrial Analytical Center was established as the service wing of H. E. J. Institute. [13] Third World Center (TWC) Laboratory complex was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2005 as an extension of the H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry. The building of TWC was renamed to "Atta-ur-Rahman Laboratories" by the Executive Board in 2011, in recognition of the outstanding services of Atta-ur-Rahman (FRS) who is now serving the ICCBS institution as the Patron-in-chief. [14]
In the year 2004, the Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD) was established through a generous donation and patronage of Nadira Panjwani (Chairperson, Panjwani Memorial Trust) in the memory of her father, Mohammad Hussain Panjwani, a leading scholar and philanthropist. The main objective of the center is to train highly qualified manpower in the emerging new fields of molecular medicine and drug development. The academicians, clinicians, and pharmaceutical researchers are brought together to translate basic scientific discoveries into new therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests. [15]
Late Mr. Latif Ebrahim Jamal, Chairman Ebrahim Jamal Foundation, continuing his patronage to the Institute, established the Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Center in 2005. The beautiful building of this one of the largest paperless libraries of the region was constructed under the direct supervision of Mr. Aziz Latif Jamal S.I. (Current Chairman Husein Ebrahim Jamal Foundation), able and committed son of (Late) Mr. Latif Ebrahim Jamal. [16]
The National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) is a Pakistani multi-campus public research university with its main campus in Islamabad, and other campuses in Rawalpindi, Risalpur, Quetta and Karachi. It offers degrees in multiple disciplines e.g. engineering, computer sciences, natural sciences, business studies, humanities, architecture as well as health sciences.
The University of Karachi is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh, the university is a "Sindh Government University" and designed by Mohsin Baig as its chief architect.
The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), formerly known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), is a public university in Pakistan. It is a multi-campus university with its principal seat located in Islamabad. Comsats was envisioned as Pakistan's first exclusive Institute of Information Technology. In the latest QS University Rankings, CUI ranked 7th in Pakistan and 801–1000 in the world. Nationally it is ranked top-most in Computer Sciences and IT category. COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) is under the administration of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South.
The Higher Education Commission is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulating and accrediting the higher education institutions in the country.
Hakeem Muhammad Saeed was a Pakistani medical researcher, scholar, and philanthropist. He served as governor of Sindh Province from 19 July 1993 until 23 January 1994. Saeed was one of Pakistan's most prominent medical researchers in the field of Eastern medicine.
Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, was a Pakistani organic chemist specialising in natural products, and a professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi.
Atta-ur-Rahman, h-index 75, with 36,000 citations is a Pakistani organic chemist and is currently serving as Professor Emeritus at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi and as Chairman of PM Task Force on Science and Technology. He has twice served as the President of Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He was the Federal Minister of Science and Technology (2000-2002), Federal Minister of Education (2002) and Chairman Higher Education Commission with status of Federal Minister (2002-2008) He is also the President of the Network of Academies of Sciences in Countries of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (NASIC). After returning to Pakistan from Cambridge after completing his tenure as Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, he contributed to the development of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi, and transforming the landscape of higher education, science and technology of Pakistan. He is Fellow of Royal Society (London), Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK.,, Academician Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Emeritus at University of Karachi
Science and technology have been pivotal in Pakistan's development since its inception. The country boasts a large pool of scientists, engineers, doctors, and technicians actively contributing to these fields.
Natural Product Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on natural products chemistry. It was established in 1992 by Atta-ur-Rahman.
The Chemical Society of Pakistan, also known as Pakistan Chemistry Society, is an academic and scientific society of professional chemists, devoted and dedicated for scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. It is one of the largest learned societies of Pakistan and groups to all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related fields such as biochemistry, Chemical physics, Mathematical chemistry, Electrochemistry and other branches of chemistry.
The POFMetallurgical Laboratory is a research and development laboratory located near the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) in Wah Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan. It's a part of POF Materials Testing Laboratories.
Iqbal Hussain Qureshi 27 September 1937 – 8 December 2012) SI, FPAS, best known as I.H. Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear chemist and an Emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. Qureshi was the principal contributor of scientific understanding of various chemical elements: bismuth, cobalt, strontium, thallium, tritium, iron, rubidium, and zinc.
Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary is a scientist in the field of organic chemistry from Pakistan. He is known for his research in various areas relating to natural product chemistry. He has more than 800 research publications. In 2015 he was recognised as the second most productive scientist in Pakistan.
Irshad Hussain is a Pakistani scientist in the field of chemistry and among the few pioneers to initiate nanomaterials research in Pakistan.
Nadra Panjwani is a Pakistani philanthropist and former caretaker Provincial Minister of Sindh who served in 2007–08 caretaker ministry.
The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pakistan is a national research institute concentrating on biosafety. It has a national laboratory site dedicated to identification and eradication of Emerging infectious diseases, as well as efforts in biological warfare. The aforementioned is a BSL3 laboratory managed by the University of Karachi for the Ministry of Health. Karachi University's International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences established the National Institute of Virology on September 19, 2019.
Syed Zafar Hasnain Zaidi Urdu: سید ظفر حسنین زیدی was a Pakistani scientific researcher, and professor who introduced the concept of Protein Chemistry in Pakistan. He served as Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Pakistan. He was decorated twice by the Government of Pakistan for his contributions to Scientific Research in Pakistan, being awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 1989 and Sitar-e-Imtiaz in 1995. He was also awarded the Khwarizmi International Award in 1992 by the Government of Iran for his research in Science.
