A Transformative Partnership for Global Development: Canada and Aga Khan University (AKU)

Join us on November 13 for an inspiring event that will delve into the vital connection between investing in higher education and advancing sustainable development. During this event, we will celebrate a remarkable 40-year journey of collaboration between Canada and the Aga Khan University (AKU), highlighting the transformative impact of education.

Canada and Canadians have played a vital role in the establishment, growth, and impact of AKU, contributing financial, technical, and intellectual support that has transformed countless lives. This programme will gather Canadian leaders and thought partners to celebrate the partnership between Canada and AKU, while reflecting on the critical role of higher education institutions in advancing sustainable development in the Global South. Together, let's witness how Canada's and AKU's shared commitment is building a brighter, more sustainable future where we all thrive together.

In addition, we invite you to explore "A Transformative Vision", an exhibition that honors the vision and work of AKU's founder and Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, the dedication of the thousands of individuals who have helped turn that vision into reality, and the impact AKU has had on countless lives. Featuring rarely seen photography, video, artefacts and documents, new interviews with key figures, the exhibition captures AKU's evolution from a single campus and hospital to the internationally recognised, continent-spanning institution of today. This exhibition will be open to event participants.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to engage with thought leaders and decision-makers, reflect on achievements, and be part of a conversation on the future of higher education and development!

Additional information for attendees:

• When you register, please indicate your interest in attending in-person at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat or attending online (Zoom) by selecting the relevant ticket option.
• Networking/Refreshments: In-person attendees are encouraged to participate in an informal networking session and enjoy refreshments before and after the event.
• Please note that this event will be offered in English only.

Questions? Akfc.events@akdn.org

Moderators and Panelists

Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta

Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta is the Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, co-Director of the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, and the Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University, unique joint appointments. He also holds adjunct professorships at several leading universities globally, including the Schools of Public Health at Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), Tufts University (Boston), University of Alberta, as well as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is a designated Distinguished National Professor of the Government of Pakistan and was the Founding Chair of the National Research Ethics Committee of the Government of Pakistan from 2003 to 2014. Dr. Bhutta is part of the seven-member Independent Expert Review Group (iERG) appointed by the UN Secretary General for monitoring global progress in maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He represents the global academic and research organizations on the GAVI Alliance Board, and is the co-Chair of the Maternal and Child Health oversight committee of the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office as well as the Global Countdown for 2015 Steering Group. Dr. Bhutta was educated at the University of Peshawar (MBBS) and obtained his PhD from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh and London), the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (London), American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He heads a large research team in Pakistan with a special interest in research synthesis. Dr. Bhutta’s research interests include newborn and child survival, maternal and child undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies.

Dr. Tania Bubela

Dr. Bubela is currently the Provost & Vice President , Academic at AKU. From 2017 to 2024, she was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Previously she was a Professor in the School of Public Health and Adjunct Professor in the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta, Canada. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr Bubela holds a PhD in biology from the University of Sydney and a Juris Doctor from the University of Alberta. She joined the University of Alberta faculty in 2004 after clerking for the Honourable Louise Arbour at the Supreme Court of Canada, articling at Field Law LLP in Edmonton, and being admitted to the bar (Law Society of Alberta) in 2005. Her research programme in intellectual property and health law related to translational biomedical research brings together her legal training and a PhD in biology and expertise in genetics and molecular biology. Additionally, her research focuses on large collaborative science networks in genomics, gene therapy, and stem cell biology, addressing barriers to the effective translation of new technologies. These are varied and include ethical issues, effective communication, equitable sharing of risks and benefits, commercialization/open science strategies, regulation, and reimbursement. Dr Bubela provides advice for government health and science agencies as well as life sciences research communities, and patient organisations. Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Stem Cell Network, Genome Canada, Genome BC, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and Alberta Innovates, among others. She co-leads a research programme on the development of cost-effective personalized oncology technologies with BC Cancer and is working on an open science drug discovery platform for pandemic preparedness and rare/neglected diseases.

Dr Bubela has over 150 publications in law, ethics, medical and science policy journals including BMJ, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Science, Cell Stem Cell, PLoS Biology, Trends in Biotechnology, American Journal of Bioethics and Science Translational Medicine.

Dr. Elizabeth Cannon

Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is president emerita of the University of Calgary after serving as president from 2010 until 2018. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University and is a Director of the Gairdner Foundation and the Rideau Hall Foundation, in addition to being a director on several corporate and crown corporation boards. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering and the US National Academy of Engineering. In 2006, Dr. Cannon was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, and in 2019, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2022, Dr. Cannon was awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence and was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame – Southern Alberta. She has received honorary degrees from the University of Ottawa, Acadia University, the Université de Montréal, SAIT and the University of Toronto.

Dr. Sulaiman Shahabuddin

As President of the Aga Khan University, Sulaiman Shahabuddin leads an institution with 3,700 students on three continents, seven hospitals that treat 2 million patients in a typical year and a record of research excellence that has led to it being ranked among the top 100 universities in the world in several fields in recent years. President Shahabuddin is an accomplished health care leader, has played a key role in launching multiple academic programmes at AKU and is intimately familiar with both Pakistan and East Africa, the two regions in which the bulk of the University’s operations are conducted. Prior to taking office on September 15, 2021, President Shahabuddin served as Regional CEO of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) in East Africa. AKHS operates four hospitals and 44 outreach centres in Kenya and Tanzania, has 2,100 employees and cares for more than 1 million patients annually. During his tenure, AKHS attracted almost $150 million in external funding for expanding facilities and care, increased access for low-income patients, achieved international accreditation for three hospitals and successfully implemented public-private partnerships. Between 2001 and 2005, President Shahabuddin was CEO of the Aga Khan Hospital, Mombasa and the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi (now the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi). In total, he has lived and worked in East Africa for 20 years. While in East Africa, President Shahabuddin worked closely with academic leaders at the Aga Khan University to launch the University’s academic nursing programmes in the region, as well as its postgraduate medical education programmes in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. President Shahabuddin started his career in Pakistan, where he was born, raised and educated. He attended the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA. Shortly after graduating in 1986, he joined AKU, where he spent the first 15 years of his career, rising to the position of Director of Materials Management. While at AKU, he established the Aga Khan Development Network’s Health Group Purchasing Programme, which now supports $80 million in purchasing in nine countries. In addition to his MBA, President Shahabuddin holds an MSc in Sustainable Development from Imperial College London/SOAS University and a Doctorate of Health Administration from Central Michigan University.

Dr. Salim Virani

Dr. Virani serves as the Vice Provost Research and The Nizar E. Noor Mohammed Mewawalla Endowed Professor at the Aga Khan University (AKU). Working with a dedicated team, he leads and facilitates AKU's global research and international collaborations across South Asia, Europe, and East Africa in the areas of medicine, nursing, education, culture, media, climate change, and environmental sciences. Dr Virani also supports Bilateral and Multilateral Relations. Prior to joining AKU, Dr. Virani was a tenured Professor in the Sections of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and an investigator in the Health Policy, Quality, and Informatics Program at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation in Houston, TX. At BCM, he also served as the Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training Program. His clinical practice includes being a Preventive Cardiologist with a special emphasis on management of complex dyslipidemia. Dr. Virani earned his medical degree from the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, graduating with the Best Medical Graduate Award. Dr. Virani completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Miami, there receiving an award as the Best Resident. He then completed a Cardiology fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute, where he served as the Chief Cardiology Fellow and received Tauber Award for the Outstanding Graduating Fellow.

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Joignez-vous à nous le 13 novembre dans le cadre d’un événement inspirant qui approfondira le lien vital entre l’investissement dans l’enseignement supérieur et la promotion du développement durable. Au cours de cet événement, nous célébrerons un remarquable parcours de collaboration de 40 ans entre le Canada et l’Université Aga Khan (AKU), en soulignant l’impact transformateur de l’éducation.

Le Canada et les Canadiens ont joué un rôle essentiel dans la création, la croissance et l’impact de l’AKU, en fournissant un soutien financier, technique et intellectuel qui a transformé d’innombrables vies. Ce programme réunira des dirigeants canadiens et des partenaires d’opinion pour célébrer le partenariat entre le Canada et l’AKU, tout en réfléchissant au rôle essentiel des établissements d’enseignement supérieur dans la promotion du développement durable dans les pays du Sud. Ensemble, voyons comment l’engagement commun du Canada et de l’AKU contribue à bâtir un avenir meilleur et plus durable qui favorisera la prospérité pour tous et toutes, ensemble.

De plus, nous vous invitons à explorer « Une vision transformatrice », une exposition qui rend hommage à la vision et au travail du fondateur et chancelier de l’AKU, Son Altesse l’Aga Khan, au dévouement des milliers de personnes qui ont contribué à concrétiser cette vision et à l’impact de l’AKU sur d’innombrables vies. Avec des photos, des vidéos, des artefacts et des documents rarement vus, de nouvelles entrevues avec des personnalités clés, l’exposition capte l’évolution de l’AKU d’un seul campus-hôpital à l’institution pancontinentale et mondialement reconnue qu’elle est devenue aujourd’hui. Cette exposition sera ouverte aux participants.

Ne manquez pas cette occasion de dialoguer avec des leaders d’opinion et des décideurs, de réfléchir aux réalisations et de participer à une conversation sur l’avenir de l’éducation et du développement!

Informations supplémentaires pour les participants :

• Lors de votre inscription en ligne, veuillez indiquer votre intérêt à participer en personne à la Délégation de l’imamat ismaili ou à participer en ligne (Zoom) en sélectionnant l’option de billet appropriée.
• Réseautage/Rafraîchissements : Les participants en personne sont invités à participer à une séance informelle de réseautage et à prendre un rafraîchissement avant et après l’événement.
• Veuillez noter que cet événement sera offert en anglais seulement.

Les questions? Akfc.events@akdn.org