Dr. Samaa Akhtar

Dr Samaa Akhtar MD, MSs (London) is an experienced physician-scientist and is an ardent advocate of improving global health outcomes, and patient experience, and strengthening health systems through analytic and applied epidemiology. Following completion of her Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery from NUST (Pakistan), she went on to complete her Master’s in Health Policy, with a concentration in public health, from City, University of London (United Kingdom). Additionally, Dr Akhtar has completed a certification in Health System Strengthening from John’s Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (United States). She is also certified in the International Conference on Harmonization-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP). Dr Akhtar is a member of the European Society of Cardiology The Global Health Network and the Association of Clinical Research Associates. She also volunteers as a co-author in the Oli Healthcare Magazine Organization (OHMO). Including peer-reviews for The Harvard Public Health Journal, the Journal for Global Neurosurgery and the Cureus Journal of Medical Science. Her research has been published in coveted journals such as The Harvard Public Health Review (HPHR) and the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE), among others. Dr Akhtar is currently working as a Senior Research Fellow and Chief Advocacy Liaison in paediatric cardiology, with a concentration in congenital heart diseases, at the Children’s Heart Hospital and Research Institute (Pakistan). Her research areas of interest include non-communicable diseases, global health and global surgery and artificial intelligence in healthcare.