A team of students from the Medical College AKU earned international recognition at the 2025 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting held in Los Angeles. Their abstract, “Diagnostic Challenges and Treatment Barriers in the Management of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries," was ranked among the highest in the Socioeconomic and Health Disparity category.
The study, led and presented by Salaar Ahmed from the Class of 2025, was supervised by Dr. Naureen Mushtaq from the Section on Oncology. Co-authors Shariqa Batool, Muhammad Abdullah, Haania Fatima, and Haseeb Waheed collaborated as part of AKU's Student Neurosurgery and Oncology Research Consortium (SNORC).
Their research explored the complex challenges faced by children diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in low- and lower-middle-income countries, from the first signs of illness to diagnosis, imaging, biopsy and treatment. Building on their findings, the team is now working to develop a “DIPG Care Checklist" to help standardise care and improve outcomes for patients across resource-limited settings.
“Our purpose in all this is achingly simple: every life, no matter how brief, deserves to be lived in full. And every child in Pakistan with this disease, no matter the soil they’re born on or the struggle they’re born into, deserves the same care, dignity, and chance to live as a child born a world away." said Salaar Ahmed, one of the authors.
This marks another milestone for Salaar Ahmed and his team, who earlier this year presented their DIPG research at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) 2025 Meeting in Boston. At the CNS Annual Meeting, SNORC members represented AKU with distinction by presenting eight abstracts, including oral, poster and digital presentations, highlighting the University's growing footprint in global neurosurgical and oncology research.
A team of students from the Medical College AKU earned international recognition at the 2025 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting held in Los Angeles. Their abstract, “Diagnostic Challenges and Treatment Barriers in the Management of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries," was ranked among the highest in the Socioeconomic and Health Disparity category.
The study, led and presented by Salaar Ahmed from the Class of 2025, was supervised by Dr. Naureen Mushtaq from the Section on Oncology. Co-authors Shariqa Batool, Muhammad Abdullah, Haania Fatima, and Haseeb Waheed collaborated as part of AKU's Student Neurosurgery and Oncology Research Consortium (SNORC).
Their research explored the complex challenges faced by children diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in low- and lower-middle-income countries, from the first signs of illness to diagnosis, imaging, biopsy and treatment. Building on their findings, the team is now working to develop a “DIPG Care Checklist" to help standardise care and improve outcomes for patients across resource-limited settings.
“Our purpose in all this is achingly simple: every life, no matter how brief, deserves to be lived in full. And every child in Pakistan with this disease, no matter the soil they’re born on or the struggle they’re born into, deserves the same care, dignity, and chance to live as a child born a world away." said Salaar Ahmed, one of the authors.
This marks another milestone for Salaar Ahmed and his team, who earlier this year presented their DIPG research at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) 2025 Meeting in Boston. At the CNS Annual Meeting, SNORC members represented AKU with distinction by presenting eight abstracts, including oral, poster and digital presentations, highlighting the University's growing footprint in global neurosurgical and oncology research.
