Claflin University News February 8, 2011 Claflin University Professor Dr. Omar Bagasra to Develop Vaccine Center in Pakistan South Carolina Center for Biotechnology Director Dr. Omar Bagasra has been tapped to establish a first-of-its-kind institute in Pakistan that will produce critically needed vaccinations for children. Bagasra will spend the next three months on sabbatical developing protocols and training personnel at Dow University of Health Sciences in Karachi to create vaccines that aren't constrained by patents. The goal of Dow's Vaccine Center is to immunize children from such diseases as tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and mumps. It will seek to halt Pakistan's practice of importing vaccines from Western nations, a financially draining move which Bagasra says costs the Middle Eastern country $3 billion annually and still leaves many children unprotected from a myriad of diseases. Add the fact that massive flooding in Pakistan last fall exacerbated the lack of affordable vaccines and that equates to a public health crisis, Bagasra said “I am going to miss my family and Claflin,” said Bagasra, who will return to the University this summer. “But I know that I am trying to do something great.” Bagasra said his primary role will be to choose a staff and teach scientists quality control at the Dow Vaccine Center to ensure vaccines are not toxic and contain the correct dosage. “This will be the first institute in any developing nation to make any childhood vaccines,” he said. “However, the biggest hurdle is quality control.” Founded in 2003, Dow is publicly funded by the Pakistani government and has established 37 new specialized institutions in the past five years such as an oral health and diabetes centers. It is one of the fastest growing universities in South Asia and has a student population of more than 40,000 students. Bagasra first visited Dow several years ago to deliver a lecture at a microbiology conference. The former S.C. Governor's Professor of the Year was then approached by Dow Vice Chancellor Dr. Masood Hameed Khan about possibly starting a vaccine center there. The conversation sparked Bagasra's interest and eventually led to his appointment as the Vaccine Center's interim director. President Dr. Henry N. Tisdale lauded the humanitarian angle of Bagasra's upcoming work in Pakistan while on sabbatical from the University. “Claflin University will surely miss the unparalleled scientific mind of Dr. Bagasra while he is briefly away. However, we all join together in applauding his selfless contribution to both improving and saving the lives of Pakistani citizens,” Tisdale said. “The true impact of Dr. Bagasra establishing a vaccination infrastructure in Pakistan is that children will be to walk toward the future unafraid of disease.” SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.