Our Leadership
SONAM Leadership Team (SLT)
School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM) has moved to a new leadership structure to drive excellence in performance in strategic areas including teaching/learning, research, clinical practice, outreach and innovation. The new SONAM Leadership Team (SLT) includes the Dean, the Associate Dean, three Assistant Deans and six Clinical Stream heads. SLT focuses on the School’s three core activities - research, education and clinical services.
The Dean
Dr David Arthur, RN, MEd, PhD, FACMHN, CMHN, is the Dean SoNaM, Pakistan. Dr Arthur brings 37 years of rich international experience in nursing education, practice and research.
Dr Arthur is a Registered Nurse, holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Advanced Nursing (Education) from the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences, Melbourne; a Bachelor of Educational Studies (Psychology) from Monash University; Master of Educational Studies from the University of Newcastle and a PhD in Nursing, also awarded by the University of Newcastle.
The Dean has also been associated with the School of Nursing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, holding several positions including Professor and Associate Head Research. As Professor and Head of the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore, he led the development of the first BN in Singapore.
His areas of expertise and research interests are mental health nursing, curriculum development, brief psychosocial interventions and primary health care. Dr Arthur has published extensively, most recently on subjects including enhancing student nurses' competence through web-based simulations; assessing violence in people with schizophrenia; and mindfulness and well-being amongst students of nursing.
Read Dean's Message
Assistant Dean for Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programmes
Ms Khairulnissa Ajani is the Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programmes at SoNaM. Ms Ajani provides support for the delivery of academic programmes at undergraduate level.
Ms Ajani has studied Masters in Nursing with a distinction in thesis from AKU-SONAM. She is currently enrolled in the doctoral programme in Nursing at AKU. Her areas of expertise is education and curriculum development. Her clinical interest is in patient education in chronic diseases and her doctoral thesis is also on self-care and hypertension.
Ms Ajani has been associated with SONAM since 1997 and has served in various administrative positions concerning all the academic programmes offered at the School. In addition, she has also served in Medical, Surgical and the Emergency Room at the Aga Khan Hospital before starting her career as an educator.
She has a number of publications in national and international journals and has been invited to speak on various subject matters at national forums.
Assistant Dean for Clinical Practice
Dr Rubina Barolia is the Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean Clinical Practice at SONAM. Dr Barolia works on improving the quality of clinical teaching and assessment of students through better preparation of clinical educators, joint appointments, faculty practice, and strengthening liaison with clinical colleagues.
Dr Barolia completed her basic nursing education followed by a Post-RN BScN degree and Masters in Nursing from AKU-SONAM. She completed her doctoral studies from the University of Alberta, Canada.
Dr Barolia has been associated with AKU since 1991 and has served in various clinical and administrative positions at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and SONAM. She has worked extensively in acute care settings in different capacities. Her work on establishing Advanced Practice Nurse Masters Programme by creating clinical tract with acute care sub-specialty is extensive. She has also worked on developing Master’s Program in Pakistan, Syria and East Africa.
Her current research focuses on the prevention of non-communicable diseases. She has extensively worked on systemic reviews and evidence practice modules.
Dr Barolia has also published her work in national and international journals. She has been awarded doctoral fellowship from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada; Betty Ford Medical Award, California, USA; and the Adult Health award from AKU.
Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Programmes
Dr Tazeen S. Ali is the Associate Professor and Assistant Dean Research and Graduate Programmes at SONAM. Dr Ali looks after the academic and research projects at the School and is involved in teaching and offering consultancy in the areas of public health, social issues, gender inequality, reproductive health, epidemiology, social determinants and women mental health.
Dr Ali completed her BScN and Masters in Epidemiology from AKU followed by PhD in Medical Sciences from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
Dr Ali has been associated with AKU for more than two decades and has worked as a public/community health practitioner for over 10 years. She has also served in the development of community based organizations and welfare trusts and has chaired multiple committees that have leveraged her expertise in evidence based research and teaching practices.
She has more than 100 publications and has supervised over 50 research theses for nurses and medical residents at graduate level. She has also been key note speaker and panelist in various national and international conferences.
Related
Faculty Directory
