LAHORE: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has conferred a Ph.D. degree upon Dr. Aisha Hameed in the field of Hematology, following completion of coursework and research focused on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The approval of the award was given in the 199th meeting of UHS Advanced Studies and Research Board (ASRB) held with the vice-chancellor, Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore in the chair.

Dr. Aisha Hameed conducted a study on the clinico-hematological and genetic characteristics of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The title of her research article is "Clinical Utility of CLL-IPI Scoring System in Pakistani Chronic Lymphocytic Patients: A Single-Center Experience," which has been published in the "Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences."

Given the highly variable clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, extensive research has been conducted to develop prognostic scoring systems capable of accurately predicting disease behavior and outcomes. These prognostic models primarily emphasize molecular biomarkers of the disease. However, such molecular biomarker-based prognostic systems have never been utilized or validated in our CLL patients prior to this study.

Dr. Aisha Hameed's research marks the first instance in Pakistan of assessing the clinical utility of the CLL-IPI scoring system in CLL patients. This pioneering work is expected to stimulate further CLL-related research in our country, which currently falls behind international standards. The research was supervised by Prof. Dr. Shagufta Khaliq and co-supervised by Dr. Nadia Sajid and Brig Dr. Nadir Ali (retd). Dr. Hameed's PhD thesis was evaluated by Prof. Dr. Elias Campo from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and Prof. Abhay R. Satoskar from Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University, USA.

Dr. Aisha Hameed is a medical graduate and holds an M.Phil in Hematology.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024