ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani researchers have won the “Outstanding Team Impact Prize” by the United Kingdom Medical Research Council (MRC), state-run media reported this week, recognizing their collaborative approach to medical research.

According to the UK Research and Innovation website, the Outstanding Team Impact prize celebrates a team whose collaborative team science approach made a major impact on medical research. It rewards teams that bring together researchers and skilled specialists with diverse scientific backgrounds and skills to address complex and pressing human health and research challenges.

“A team of researchers from the University of Karachi has been honored with the prestigious ‘Outstanding Team Impact Prize’ by the UK MRC,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said, naming Prof Dr. M Iqbal Chaudhry and Prof Dr. Sammer Yousaf from the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry and the Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research respectively. 

They were recognized for a research project titled “A Global Network of Tropical Neglected Diseases” that integrated diverse expertise from various scientific backgrounds.

The project, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund and led by Durham University in the UK, brought together leading scientists from the UK, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Pakistan to combat protozoan NTDs specifically leishmaniasis and the Chagas disease. NTDs are a diverse group of conditions caused by a variety of pathogens (including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins) and associated with devastating health, social and economic consequences.