Dr. Sheikh Arshad Saeed, the Abdulaziz Hussainali Shariff Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, received the most prestigious and highest civil award, Hilal-e-Imtiaz. Dr. Saeed joined AKU in 1984, and has since been actively involved in breakthrough  discoveries and contributions to knowledge in inflammation, anti-inflammatory drugs, reproductive biology and molecular mechanisms of human platelet aggregation.

Dr. Saeed has an active teaching experience of over two decades and his supervisory role has led to the award of six  PhDs and three MPhils from eminent national and international universities. He holds the rare distinction of discovering nine patented medical procedures, techniques and instruments from Europe and North America. Dr. Saeed is also the first Pakistani to  be  elected  Fellow of  Royal  Institute of  Biology, London in 1980. His volume of cutting edge, research work in the area of Biological Sciences at AKU was recognized by the Government of Pakistan when he was conferred the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in August 2001.

Dr. Saeed acknowledges the role of AKU in providing the infrastructure and motivation for his research work. "The three of us in pharmacology: Dr. Amin Suria, Dr. Anwar Gilani and myself worked together as a team with a positive attitude and a disciplined approach to work. When the University has done so much for us, it also becomes our duty to work with devotion and fervour towards its development and growth."