AKU Clinical Epidemiology Unit Recognised by International Clinical Epidemiology Network

The Clinical Epidemiology Unit (CEU) at AKU gained membership in August 2002 within the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN).  It is the first unit of its kind in Pakistan to have achieved this international recognition.

CEU is an initiative of AKU's Department of Community Health Sciences, and was launched in January 2002.  It seeks to enhance individual and population health by advancing measurement of and knowledge about the social, behavioural, medical and biological factors influencing health. This will help to improve the quality of care and advance clinical research using appropriate epidemiological methods. It endeavours to work in an interactive partnership with clinicians, government and industry, both nationally and internationally.

This partnership with INCLEN opens avenues for collaborative research with other member countries and builds institutional research capacity. CEU will thereby become eligible to participate in research exchange programmes and make available potential funding for projects and workshops from the INCLEN Trust and other sister   agencies. It also opens the possibility for CEU to eventually become a coordinating centre for INCLEN-led multi-centre research studies and programmes.

The Clinical Epidemiology Unit (CEU) seeks to enhance the population and the individual's health by advancing measurement of and knowledge about the social, behavioural, medical and biological factors influencing health. On the extreme left is Dr. Tazeen Jafar (MBBS, '90), Director of CEU, supervising a clinic for patients with hypertension.

The International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) was founded by the Rockefeller Foundation with the  objective of improving health in the developing world. The INCLEN network uses diverse disciplinary resources and collaborative arrangements to address health care problems. INCLEN follows a multidisciplinary approach in promoting application of evidence-based health care practice. It is active in linking evidence to health policy and interventions, serves as a forum for dissemination of health research, and builds capacity for research leadership and management.

The criteria for membership into INCLEN as a recognised  clinical epidemiology unit are evidence of local (indigenous) faculty with highly specialised, structured training in various aspects of clinical research, and proof of commitment to research. Currently, it has a membership of over 500 scientists in various disciplines, including clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical economics, and other social sciences based in 44 clinical epidemiology units and 19 clinical research and training centres in 26 countries.

Dr. Tazeen Jafar (MBBS, ’90), Director of CEU, envisions that "CEU's participation in INCLEN's regional priority setting exercises for developing and planning of health care research projects would allow projection of Pakistan's health care needs at a global forum. It would also facilitate appropriate international resource allocation to our country for clinical research and health initiatives."