Tauseef Khan
Published on Nov 18 2009
Name?
Tauseef Ahmad Khan
What do I do?
A PhD Student. I study the effects of lipids on heart disease and stroke by using genetic information from lipid genes. My field is called Epidemiology (Study of Epidemic Diseases) - heart disease is also an epidemic as it is the biggest killer in the world with 17 million people dying from this disease every year.
My Study Path?
O-level followed by A-levels. I completed my MBBS from Pakistan and afterwards under instructions of Huzur (atba) started a career in research by gaining admission in MSc Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. By the immense grace of Allah and Huzur's (atba) prayers I was able to obtain a graduate teaching scholarship for my PhD. My PhD is four years long and involves research and teaching. It is great fun.
My Interests and Future Plans:
I have interest in non-communicable diseases (also called chronic diseases) with special interest in heart disease. In the future I plan to study the burden of this disease in South Asians (Pakistani, Bangladesh, India) and see how genetics can explain some of the disease biological pathways and patterns. I also have an interest to study honey as a cure.
My Daily Routine: 1 hour Qur'an pondering, 4 hours PhD work, 2 hours reading, 2 hours teaching, 2 hours travelling, 2 hours Jama'at work, 2 hours on email
Best things (and worst) about Research:
Being a PhD Student is a lot of fun but challenging. Balancing research, reading, teaching, family life and Jama'at work is very difficult. One thing I learnt when I started my PhD is that it is all about good time management. One thing that is blessing for some and maybe annoying for other is that you have to motivate yourself and you have to make up your own timetable - this is the greatest challenge of doing a PhD. However if you love your research, then reading new papers on it everyday makes it so much more interesting. Doing a PhD is also a humbling experience, as your knowledge increases you realise how little you actually know.
My Fav Books/Websites on Research:
The Holy Qur'an
www.nature.com
www.scientificamerican.com
www.newscientist.com