The UPO continues to Foster Partnerships with Leading Institutions

During these unprecedented times, the University Partnerships Office (UPO) continues to build partnerships with world-class institutions for knowledge exchange, growth, research, innovation, mobility initiatives, and training opportunities for our staff and students Over the course of the year, AKU has signed partnership agreements with Columbia University, the University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, and the University of Michigan. 

​​All these partnerships support key priority areas at AKU and reflect the UPO’s commitment to fostering and solidifying partnerships that are mutually reciprocal and can make a difference by contributing to research and innovation, training and development, and education and service.  In return, AKU’s international partners seek access to AKU and its vast set of networks; AKDN and its local and international infrastructure; research field sites; significant data;  mobility for faculty and students; diverse populations; new and untapped geographic locations; new pipelines of students to recruit; local connections with government and resources to promote growth and knowledge exchange.

 

With Columbia University, AKU will launch a dual master’s degree. The partnership will develop theoretical and practical perspectives needed to understand how Muslim societies respond to pressing global challenges. Through this programme, students will be equipped to engage creatively and critically with opportunities and challenges faced by Muslim societies today.  

On research opportunities, AKU developed independent MOUs with the Universities of Alabama Birmingham, Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Partnerships with the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan will promote collaboration in medical education and scientific research. The former specifically aims to improve research on areas of HIV, breast cancer, and translational science and health disparities. With the University of Michigan, AKU will collaborate on a joint research project in data science, sharing innovative teaching methods, and faculty development and exchange.  Johns Hopkins University is also collaborating on research with AKU in the areas of public health and trauma and emergency medicine. In addition, this collaboration will explore funding activities, facilitate faculty exchange, scholarly work, development of training and educational initiatives, and student mobility. 

The London School of Hygiene (LSHTM) and AKU have signed a mutual agreement to explore collaborative research projects in areas such as TB, HIV, malaria, non-communicable diseases, and medical ethics, for example. There is also a particular interest in educational collaborations including co-supervision opportunities for AKU Ph.D. students at LSHTM and hosting of LSHTM MSc and Ph.D. student projects at AKU.