Pakistani medicinal chemist awarded Mustafa Prize 2021

Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary has been awarded Mustafa Prize International, a symbol of scientific excellence, for 2021 for the ‘discovery of fascinating molecules with therapeutic applications’.

At least 50 scientists and scholars from 15 countries will attend the award ceremony at the Mustafa Prize week this year.

Hossein Naderimanesh, a member of the scientific committee of the Mustafa Prize, introduced the award winners.

Each laureate of the Mustafa Prize gets $500,000.

“Medicinal plants have been the basis of traditional medicines since antiquity, and in contemporary era have played a central role as sources of new drugs,” says Dr Iqbal Choudhary, a biochemist at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences of the Karachi University.

The Mustafa Prize, a top science and technology award, is granted every two years to top researchers and scientists of the Muslim world in four categories: Life and medical science and technology, nanoscience and nanotechnology, information and communication science and technology and also in ‘all areas of science and technology’.

The prize was established in 2012 as a symbol of scientific excellence at the international level, and it is regarded as the Nobel prize of the Muslim world, said a news release.

Five scientists each from Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Morocco have been awarded The Mustafa Prize in their respective fields of study.

Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary is a renowned medicinal chemist. He has published 1,175 research papers in organic and bioorganic chemistry in international journals, authored 76 books and contributed 40 chapters in books published by major US and European presses. He has secured 40 US patents so far.

Dr Iqbal’s work has been cited by the researchers from around the world by 27,407 times and his h-index is 70. By now 94 national and international scholars have completed their PhD degrees under his supervision.

Dr Iqbal is DSc, PhD, and C Chem. He has already been awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

He has been elected fellow by world renowned science academies, including Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, Islamic World Academy of Sciences, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Chemical Society of Pakistan.

Prof Iqbal was also honored by the President of Iran who awarded him with the Khwarizmi International Award.

He has been given the prestigious title of ‘Distinguished National Professor’ by the Higher Education Commission in 2004 and ‘Meritorious Professor’ by the University of Karachi in 2013.