A Nonpartisan Policy Institute
About the Advisory Committee
The advisory committee endeavours to ensure the suitability of research topics and quality of research reports. Committee members have diverse experience and expertise, and are knowledgeable about public affairs in Bangladesh. Members also assist in identifying resources, field placements, co-op and other student opportunities.
John Richards – PhD
Member, IUBAT international advisory committee
Email: jrichard@sfu.ca
Profile: https://www.sfu.ca/mpp/faculty_and_associates/john-richards.html
John Richards is an economist, and professor in the Graduate Public Policy School at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. He is also a member of the IUBAT international advisory committee.
He has written extensively on social policy in Canada, primarily via the C.D. Howe Institute (many publications available online at https://www.cdhowe.org), where he holds the Roger Phillips chair in social policy. He co-edits (with Henry Milner) Inroads, a Canadian policy journal (see https://www.inroadsjournal.ca). He is a frequent visitor to Bangladesh, where he has undertaken teaching and research over the last two decades.
Alex Berland – RN, MSc
Senior Advisor, College of Nursing, IUBAT
Email : aberland@telus.net
Alex Berland serves as Senior Adviser in Health Sciences at IUBAT, visiting Dhaka annually since 2003. In Vancouver Canada, Alex operates a management consulting company specializing in health and social services. He is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, an adjunct faculty in the Public Policy School, Simon Fraser University, and a Registered Nurse.
Karen Lund – PhD
Senior Advisor and On-Site Administrator, College of Nursing, IUBAT
Email : lund.karen1@gmail.com
Karen Lund received her PhD in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Univrsity of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in 1998 for studies on the molecular biology of viruses. She was later invited to join the founding team of Interomex Biopharmaceuticals, where she directed research in genetic diseases.
When the company was sold in 2004, Karen decided to break from 30 years of work in molecular biology of infectious diseases and dedicate some years to volunteer work in South Asia. Since then, she has lived mostly in Dhaka and guided the development and delivery of an international standard BSN education program at IUBAT that has now graduated four cohorts. She works closely with the local government and other health and education-related institutions in Bangladesh.
In recent years Karen has also worked as an invited consultant for donor-funded projects supporting nursing education. She is an active participant in South Asian forums for development in health education and is a co-founder of the Alliance for Nursing Development in Asia (ANDA), a project of Partners in Population and Development aimed at strengthening nursing in the region.
Afifa Shahrin – MA (University of Dhaka), MA (SFU)
Doctoral student, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Email: ashahrin@sfu.ca
Afifa Shahrin has a MA from SFU in Public Policy and is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health, specializing in global health. Her research is focused on health and social issues of marginalized populations, particularly in Bangladesh. She has worked on research projects with SFU and has several publications.
Ms. Shahrin has worked as a lecturer at BRAC University and as a researcher at the Centre for Policy Dialogue. She also holds a MA in Economics from the University of Dhaka.
Sk Nazmul Huda
PhD in Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
Special Adviser, GAVI Alliance to the Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh
Email : info@iubat.edu
Dr. Sk NAZMUL Huda is the Special Adviser for the GAVI Alliance to the Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh. Earlier, he worked with Grameen Organizations of Nobel Laureate Dr. Yunus for three years as Director of the Grameen Nursing Initiative. In the past he had also worked with the Institute of Child and Mother Health, Dhaka as the Head of Center for Training and Communication; with the Population Council of USA, Bangladesh Country Office as a Research Fellow; and with a Safe Motherhood Project of Unicef as the Program Officer.
Nazmul Huda is a medical graduate from the University of Dhaka. He obtained a M.Phil in preventive and social medicine from the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine, Bangladesh. He received his PhD in Public Health Sciences from the School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Canada. He had fellowships from the COLT foundation UK and International Health Solutions Trust UK for working on public health projects in Bangladesh with the Imperial College, UK. Nazmul Huda is the founder of the NGO, Training Advocacy and Research on Infant Feeding (TARIF).