Anwar Nasim (born 7 December 1935)
is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

and

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

who was the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences () (Abbreviations and Acronyms, abbreviated as: PAS), is a learned society of sciences, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country." Established in 1953 in ...

from 2015 to 2017. He currently resides in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Early life

Anwar was born in a village near

Pasrur Pasrur (Punjabi and ), is a historical city of Sialkot District in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the capital of Pasrur Tehsil and is administratively subdivided into 26 wards of the municipal committee Pasrur. Pasrur i ...

Sialkot District Sialkot District ( Punjabi and ), is one of the districts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialkot Cantonment was established in 1852 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. His father was in the police service, so Anwar spent his childhood in different cities. He got his early education from

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

. In 1951 he passed his matric exam from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. In 1953 he passed his F.Sc. exam in pre-medical from Forman Christian College Lahore. Then in 1955 he did BSc. in

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

from Gordon College,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

and got first position. In 1957, he got his MSc. degree in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

with Gold Medal from the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

, Lahore.

Career and higher education

Nasim started his career as a lecturer in Govt. College, Multan and then

Government College, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

.Dr Anwar Naseem
In 1962 he got a scholarship and went to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In 1966 he got PhD in Biochemical Genetics from

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. From 1966 to 1973 he was a research officer in Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. From 1973 to 1989, he was senior research officer in

National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC; ) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research and development. It is the largest federal research and development organization in Canada. Th ...

. During this period he passed a sabbatical year (1978–79) at

Max Planck Institute The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the Biology Department of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. From 1983 to 1989, he taught as adjunct professor in Department of Microbiology and Immunology,

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

and from 1984 to 1989 as adjunct professor in Department of Biology

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, Ottawa. From 1989 to 1993, he worked as principal scientist and head, Molecular Genetics Group, Biology and Medical Research Department,

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre () (KFSHRC) is a non-profit tertiary healthcare institution headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Overview As a tertiary referral hospital, it offers primary and specialized inpatient and ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. From 1994 to 1996, he was executive secretary in Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Islamabad. In August 1996 he was appointed as adviser science,

COMSTECH Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) is one of four standing committees of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation dedicated to the promotion and cooperation of science and technology activities among the OIC ...

, Islamabad.

International involvements

Nasim worked at the

Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology The Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, also known as NIAB, () is a Pakistani agriculture and food irradiation national research institute managed by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. It is located in Faisalabad, Punjab. Along ...

(NIAB),

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

in 1981 and at Centre for Advanced Molecular Biology,

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

, Lahore in 1985. He was also member of the teaching faculty of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Regional Training Course on gene cloning held in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1983. In 1978 he was chairman of the organizing committee for the International Symposium on DNA repair, Mutation and Human III Health held in Ottawa, Canada. He was also international Coordinator and Member of the Executive Committee for the XVI

International Congress of Genetics The International Congress of Genetics (ICG) is a five yearly conference for geneticists. The first ICG was held in 1898. Since 1973 It has been organized by the International Genetics Federation (IGF). The aim of the congress is to reflect on prog ...

, Toronto, Canada held in 1988.

Research and books

Nasim published more than one hundred scientific papers in prestigious international journals worldwide since 1965. Some of the books written by Nasim are: * Hurst, A. and NASIM, A. (1984). Repairable Lesions in Microorganisms. Academic Press, New York. * Dillon, J.R., NASIM, A., Nestmann, E.R. (1985). Recombinant DNA Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Translated into Japanese. * NASIM, A., Young, P. and Johnson, B.F. (1989). Molecular Biology of the Fission Yeast. Academic Press, New York. * Chopra, V.L. and NASIM, A. (1990). Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India. * NASIM, A. (1992). Genetic Engineering - State of the Art, 150 pages. A monograph prepared for Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Rabat, Morocco . Translated into Arabic and French. * Kauser A. Malik, NASIM, A. and Ahmed M. Khalid (1995) Biotechnology for sustainable development. (NIBGE), Faisalabad

Honours and awards

Some of Dr. Anwar's awards are: * Gold Medal in MSc (1957) * Academic roll of Honour Govt. College, Lahore . (1958) * Chairman, Committee on Environmental Mutagenesis, Genetics Society of Canada, 1976–1977. * Member of Teaching Faculty of the UNESCO Regional Training Course on Gene cloning held in Singapore, 1983. * Chairman, Committee on Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Genetic Society of Canada, 1983–1984. * Elected Fellow of Third World Academy of Sciences, 1987. * Elected Foreign Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, 1988. * Elected Fellow of Islamic Academy of Sciences, 1998. * Elected Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences, 2000. * International coordinator and member of the executive committee for the XVI International Congress of Genetics, Toronto, 1988. * Consultant and member of international advisory committee for National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad (1993 - To Date). * Honorary professor in H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan. (1993) * Overseas Pakistani's Institute (OPI) award for outstanding services for the cause of science in Pakistan. (1995). * Civil Award "Pride of Performance" in Molecular Genetics (1995) (by the president of Pakistan) * Civil Award "Sitara-e-Imtiaz" in Molecular Genetics 1999. * Chairman National Commission on Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan . (2001-To Date) * Chairman Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Chapter in Pakistan (July 2002) * Elected general secretary Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) (Jan 2012) * Elected president of Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) (Jan 2015) * Patron Broader Middle East and North Africa Association of Young Scientists (BAYS) Since 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasim, Anwar People from Sialkot District Pakistani microbiologists Pakistani molecular biologists Science and technology in Pakistan Pakistani botanists Pakistani geneticists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Forman Christian College alumni University of the Punjab alumni Living people 1935 births Government College University, Lahore alumni Academic staff of the Government College University, Lahore Fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences Presidents of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences