Brief History and Introduction

A grand Kemkolian Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan Chief Medical Officer Pakistan Railways [1928-1980] narrated that during his studentship in King Edward Medical College, Lahore in 1920s a special teacher from England used to teach Biochemistry to the students of King Edward. After the advent of Pakistan the first prominent teacher in Biochemistry was Dr. Muhammed Mushtaq who after graduating in 1955 from King Edward Medical College, Lahore joined as Demonstrator and then became Assistant Professor in Biochemistry. He did his Post graduation in Biochemistry from J.P.M.C. in the first batch. He contributed the first Pakistani Book in Medical Biochemistry. Dr. Masood Amjad Chughtai is another big name who served as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in King Edward Medical College, Lahore.

The Department of Biochemistry was established in 1980 in King Edward Medical College, Lahore. Professor Abdus Salam Sheikh being its founding Head. As Assistant Professor Dr. Kamran Aziz organized the basic teaching programmes & laboratories of the Department from 1982 to 1986. The identification of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology as the main research tool in Medicine was identified through the efforts of the Department. In 1990 Punjab University awarded the status to the subject to be separately examined in M.B; B.S; degree. Professor Kamran Aziz rejoined as Head of Department after the retirement of Professor Abdus Salam Sheikh in 2001. After retirement of Prof Kamran Aziz on 24th Oct 2009, Dr. Shakil Ahmad Assistant Professor became head of department. He is gold medalist in M.Phil Biochemistry.

The Department has played a pivotal role in organization of Medical education based on Modern Clinical perceptive Biochemistry. A computer Laboratory with internet facility & video conferencing was established in the Department with support from KEMCANA for modernizing Medical Education. Professor Kamran Aziz has been awarded the Membership of European Academy of Sciences on development of Integrated Medical Education. He has been Secretary of International Conference of Biochemistry in 2002 and Secretary of International Symposium organized by IUBMB in 2005.

The Department organized Symposia in Collaboration with Yale University in King Edward Medical College in 2003 reorganizing its curriculum & introducing modern molecular genetics. The department has been a hub of extracurricular activity for the young students of King Edward & nurturing their debating skills, literature capabilities & scientific perceptions. The reorganization of curriculum inducted into the teaching of Biochemistry to the students of Dentistry has been a great contribution by the department. The department has also contributed in the reorganization of curricula for M.D., M.S., & M.Phil Courses for University of the Punjab.

KEMCAANA COMPUTER LAB.

In December 2001 the old graduates of KEMU (Alumni) dreamed to do some thing for their young Kemcolians. The King Edward Alumni Association of North America (KEMCAANA) decided to establish a computer lab in King Edward Medical University, Lahore. The Biochemistry Department was generous enough to give the place for computer lab.

In March 2002 the designing and construction of the computer lab was started. Within three months in June 2002 it started to function. In the beginning there were 10 systems, but within a few months the Lab expanded its facilities by adding 20 P-4 systems.

List of Faculty

Academic Programs
Postgraduate Programs
• MD Preventive Pediatrics
• M. Phil
• MDS (Master in Dental Surgery)
• MS (Master in Surgery)

Undergraduate programs
• MBBS
• BDS
• B.Sc (Physiotherapy)
• DPT (Doctor of Physiotherapy)

Building research laboratory and research work.

The Department at this time has four offices one classroom for 260 students and one laboratory for 50 students. The classroom and laboratories are facilitated by air-conditioning system, sound system, multimedia computer, flip chart, white chart, white board, blackboard and spectrophotometer. There is also one computer section having capacity for 50 students (already mentioned). There is one meeting room in the department where the departmental meetings are held. As such there is one research laboratory in the department where the teachers carry out their research work.

One research project which is carried out by the Head of Department is “Role of Leptin as a Marker of Pathological Changes in Non-Diabetic Obese & Diabetic Male & Female Patients in Comparison with Normal Controls in Selected Local Population”. At present four students have completed their research work in M.Phil Biochemistry, under the supervision of Dr.Shakil Ahmad.