Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Chief Scientist at CSIR-IIIM Jammu, a local hailing from Poonch District of Jammu & Kashmir took over as Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu. Pertinently, the search-cum-selection committee met in January this year and based on its recommendations, Dr Ahmed has been appointed as Director of the CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, for the tenure of six years.
Dr Zabeer Ahmed after his initial schooling in district Poonch, did his UG (1993) and PG (Zoology) in 1995 from Jammu University and PhD (Zoology) in 2010 from Kashmir University. His areas of specialisation include pre-clinical drug development, diabetes & obesity research, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory disorders. Dr Zabeer started his career in 1997 at CSIR-IIIM and has held different positions till his elevation as Director. He was promoted as Chief Scientist in 2021.
He is the recipient of the prestigious Knowledge Partnership Award of CSIR and visited the National Center for Natural Product Research (NCNPR), School of Pharmacy, and University of Mississippi, USA, under the accomplishment. In recognition of his significant contributions towards Science and Society, he was recently awarded J&K UT Award for Excellence in Science and Technology.
Dr Zabeer has published more than 70 peer research papers including popular articles and has five patents to his credit. He has authored three books and guided 07 PhD and 35 postgraduate students. During the illustrious 25 years of his career, Dr Zabeer has successfully established the research frontiers in metabolic disorders and rheumatoid arthritis and identified many potent leads for diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis which are currently under clinical development. He has been working with a team of scientists who identified three phyto-pharmaceutical leads for rheumatoid arthritis, out of which one is under Phase I clinical trial and in the case of the other two, the IND studies have been completed. Dr Zabeer has developed and transferred the technology on herbal-based formulation for diabetes mellitus.
As Head of the Pharmacology Division of the institute, Dr Zabeer has also been actively pursuing research on rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation disorders, diabetes mellitus and obesity including the ambitious research project on the discovery of cannabinoids and their derivatives from Cannabis sativa for the management of chronic disease conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathic pain. He is also leading several societal programmes and extension projects of CSIR-IIIM and has been credited with various grant-in aids and collaborative projects. He is also the Nodal officer of the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the establishment of two Industrial Biotech Parks in J&K UT.
Of his vast experience in science and administration, he held many important positions like Head CSIR-IIIM Srinagar Branch Laboratory and Engineering wing of CSIR-IIIM Jammu. After taking over as Director of CSIR-IIIM, he took review meetings with the scientific and administrative staff of the institute and exhorted them to take the institute to next level of growth and excellence.
