About Us
Patientsnotprofits is a network working to address conflicts of interest and incentive-linked prescribing around the world . Our secretariat is hosted by researchers at the Aga Khan University, Karachi and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Our Story
PatientsNotProfits was created after a four year research programme on conflicts of interest impacting the quality of health care in Pakistan.
Our research, centered in Karachi, investigated the widespread yet under-examined issue of hidden deal-making between doctors and pharmaceutical sales representatives, which can result in doctors prescribing unnecessary and costly medicines in exchange for personal benefits.
Through this work we have connected with stakeholders from around the world who are concerned about the impacts of profit driven healthcare.
This network will share research insights, raise awareness among key stakeholders and advocate for a just and ethical health systems.
Meet The Secretariat
Dr Mishal Khan
Principle Investigator-LSHTM
Dr. Mishal Khan is a social epidemiologist known for her expertise in strengthening health systems and policies for infectious disease control and her leadership in addressing issues of governance and equitable practices in Global Health. She holds positions at the Aga Khan University in Karachi (Pakistan) and the Centre on Universal Health at Chatham House (UK). Dr. Khan holds a PhD and MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Sadia Shakoor
Principle Investigator-AKU
Dr Sadia Shakoor is a physician and a clinical microbiologist working in Pakistan with over 15 years of experience in diagnostics and treatment of emerging and resistant infections. Dr Shakoor’s clinical and research work in antimicrobial resistance and diagnostics involves understanding the drivers of irrational prescribing and stewardship for medicines as well as diagnostics. She has been involved in outbreak reporting and management efforts in her region. She serves on regional/ global academic and public health advisory boards (viz for the WHO and the ISID).
Dr. Amna Rehana Siddiqui
Co-Investigator-AKU
Dr. Amna Rehana Siddiqui is a Professor and Head of APPNA Institute of Public Health (AIPH) at Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU). She is appointed a member in the WHO technical group on the economics of Antimicrobial Resistance and has a long-standing affiliation with the Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) at Aga Khan University (AKU) and is maintained as a visiting faculty and consultant. Her academic work includes epidemiological research, environmental transmission of infectious diseases, health systems influences on population health, leading ethical reviews, and graduate programs in public health disciplines. .
Dr. Rumina Hasan
Co-Investigator-AKU
Dr. Rumina Hasan is a Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, The Abdulaziz Hussainali Shariff Professor, and acting Director Centre of Regenerative Medicine at Aga Khan University, Karachi. She is also an Honorary Professor in the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Following her undergraduate medical training at the University of London, Professor Hasan earned a PhD in Immunology from LSHTM followed by MRCPath/FRCPath from The Royal College of Pathologists, UK. She is recognized as a global leader in her field and has served on numerous Strategic Technical Advisory and Expert Groups as well as Guideline Development Committees for both tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance at the World Health Organization.
Dr. Naveed Noor
Consultant-AKU
Dr Naveed Noor received a PhD in social research in health, from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Based in the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Systems Research at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, and acted as a lead scientist in investigating conflicts of interest linked to pharmaceutical incentivization to physicians and its impact on prescribing behavior in Pakistan. Currently, Dr Noor is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellow at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. He is also affiliated with the Centre for Social Research at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, as an Adjunct Lecturer. He applies a social scientific lens to examine inadequacies in healthcare systems.
Nina van der Mark
Research Fellow - LSHTM
Nina van der Mark is a Research Fellow with 10 years of experience in Global Health. She has a multidisciplinary background with an MSc in Population and Development from The London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, focused on international relations, international law, and China studies from University College Utrecht. Before joining LSHTM, she was a Research Associate at the Chatham House Centre for Universal Health primarily focusing on the political economy of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). She has a wide breadth of experience including work in international development at Options Consultancy Services, with a focus on Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health and Health Financing.
Shahzeb Ahmed
Journalist
Shahzeb Ahmed Hashim is the head of Prism at Dawn.com. Previously, he served as an Editorial Consultant at Dawn.com, where he heads the special features desk and Incharge of Karachi desk at The Express Tribune, a Pakistan-based English-language national daily affiliated with the New York Times.
Additionally, Shahzeb teaches in the only Masters in Journalism program in the country at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.
He has been instructing courses on digital news reporting and data journalism since 2018. He earned his Masters in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, in June 2017.