Asifa Akhtar is the first international female Vice President of the Biology and Medicine Section at the prestigious Max Planck Society. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, she obtained her doctorate at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK in 1997. She then moved to Germany, where she was a Postdoctoral fellow at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and the Adolf-Butenandt-Institute in Munich from 1998 to 2001.
She rejoined the EMBL Heidelberg as a group leader before becoming a Max Planck Investigator at the MPI in Freiburg in 2009. Since 2013, she has been a director at the MPI for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg. Asifa Akhtar was awarded the Early Career European Life Science Organization Award in 2008, EMBO membership in 2013, and the Feldberg Prize in 2017. She was elected as a member of the National Academy of Science Leopoldina in 2019.
“It’s a team effort from day one!” said Asifa.
Asifa is likewise quick to chip away at sexual orientation uniformity issues, with respect to this she includes:
“Sexual orientation balance should be taken a shot at persistently. There are extraordinary ladies in science and we should put forth all the attempts and utilize our assets to win them for the Max Planck Society.” Asifa has additionally gotten numerous honors and grants in her field including the Early Career European Life Science Organization Award in 2008.
The Max Planck Society is Germany’s best exploration association. Since its foundation in 1948, no less than 18 Nobel laureates have risen up out of the positions of its researchers, putting it on a standard with the best and most lofty exploration establishments around the world.
During her term of office, Ms Akhtar will be accountable for the organizations of the areas and will likewise be the contact individual for the Max Planck Schools. “My heart thumps for the youthful researchers,” the general public’s site cited Akhtar as saying.
Ms. Akhtar wants to enable gender diversity in different career domains and options she said, the society needs to be more accommodating and understanding.
“If we want women to progress in science, we need to enable practical
solutions such as childcare and time sharing or home office options.”
Pakistan’s pride and future, a born scientist becomes first woman to head section at renowned institution!