About

What's Medjack?

Medjack is about clever ways of hacking healthcare or other problems to create sustainable solutions.

A unique experience of founding and sustaining a healthcare-related innovation and incubation hub in Pakistan.

The co-authors bring you a multi-disciplinary cumulative experience of over a decade at the Aga Khan University, a premier academic healthcare institution that is well-recognised and respected globally. Medjack is dedicated to and intended for students of healthcare or other disciplines interested in healthcare-related innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. However, once you delve into the book, you will realise that the general principles and specific learnings are of value to anyone interested in hacking systemic problems around innovation that exist within any organisation. This book can best teach you how to change mindsets from academic to entrepreneurial reliance, from systemic to individual efforts or vice versa, from grant funding to seed funding via pitching to investors. It might even help you change your own mindset. It is also good at teaching you how to build and maintain a healthcare-centric innovation and incubation hub using Jugaar (frugal, nimble, low-cost) means. Medjack is different from other books in this space – through simple case studies, it tries to get across a certain innovation ethos rather than focusing on the pros and cons of each move that an innovation/incubation hub can or should make.

If you’re passionate about embedding innovative, creative and entrepreneurial thinking into your healthcare or other organisation’s DNA, at very low (or no) cost, then this book is for you!

Our Co-authors

Asad I. Mian

Director, CCIT;
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine; AKU

Dr. Mian is an ​ER physicia​n-researcher, creativist, innovator-intrapreneur, and fiction/non-fiction writer/blogger. As team lead for CCIT, he strives to mobilize team members, or anyone else interested, to think out-of-the-box (aka innovation and entrepreneurship). For Medjack he performed the dual function of editor-in-chief and coauthor.   

Areeba Ahmed

Biomedical Engineer and Design Mentor in Residence, CCIT

Ms. Ahmed is in addition to being a biomed engineer, a social media enthusiast, fusing smart concepts with creativity, thus adding value to the team for its media and communications strategy. ​She actively designs healthcare products through CCIT, thus logically contributing to the tech-based chapter for Medjack.​

Walid Farooqi

Project Manager, Boston Image Reading Center, Boston, MA, USA

Dr. Farooqi graduated from AKU’s MBBS Class of 2016. H​e was CCIT’​s first hire and served as an Activity Coordinator and then Co-Director from 2016 to 2019. Given his early connexion with CCIT, he was the best candidate for authoring chapter one of Medjack.    

Komal Dayani

Master’s Program Global Mental Health, King’s College, London, UK

After graduating from AKU-SONAM BScN class of 2018, Ms. Dayani joined CCIT as an innovation fellow. She wishes to innovate in mental health to reduce the latter’s burden in LMICs.​ Her passion for Narrative Medicine is reflected in the chapter she co-authored for Medjack. 

Haider Ali

Manager Clinical & Translational Research Incubator (CITRIC), AKU

After graduating from AKU’s MBBS 2018, Dr. Ali served as CCIT’s Community Manager in 2019 and then Innovation Consultant in 2020. He co-drafted the Innovation Fellowship and implemented Innovation Skills Assessment. His interest in the narrative aspect of medicine prompted him to coauthor that chapter in Medjack.

Maryam Siddique

E-pharmacy and Innovation Manager, doctHERs

Ms. Siddiqui has professional pharmacy practice experience of four years. She was one of the successful candidates for the first iteration of CCIT’s Innovation Fellowship. She believes in creating innovation impact by merging technology with traditional healthcare solutions, and this is showcased in her co-authoring a chapter in Medjack.

Muhammad Mohsin

MS - Computational Biomedical Engineering at Research Centre for Modelling and Simulation, National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad

Mr. Mohsin is a healthcare entrepreneur and innovation enthusiast. After graduating from college, he joined CCIT as one of four innovation fellows. ​He eagerly remains part of ‘team Medjack’, as the book development and knowledge dissemination process pick up steam.​

Mohammad Taha Anver

IT, Data Science, Tech Mentor in Residence, CCIT

Mr. Anver is an engineer who works with the IT department to support technology-based learning at AKU. He loves working with multidisciplinary teams to help them acquire perspectives and develop solutions. Given his passion for tech he co-authored the chapter on tech innovation in Medjack.

Sarosh Madhani

Research Fellow, Department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic

After graduating from AKU’s MBBS 2018, Dr. Madhani joined CCIT full time as a Community Manager. He was instrumental in innovation outreach and event operations. He remains engaged via student mentorship and innovation-based events. Being a past Igniter, he diligently co-authored the relevant chapter in Medjack.   

Namra Nasir

Program Manager, Nest I/O

As Engineering Mentor in Residence, Ms. Nasir was instrumental in guiding CCIT on product development and strategic outreach. She then pursued her Masters’ in biomedical engineering from Chicago’s Northwestern. In Medjack’s tech innovation chapter, she highlights the utility of technology in the medical field.

Hasan N Tahir

Entrepreneur Mentor in Residence, CCIT; Senior Instructor, Community Health Sciences, AKU

Dr. Tahir is an entrepreneur and data science enthusiast in the healthcare space with startup incubation experience at Nest I/O and NIC. On joining CCIT he played a pivotal role in development and management of the Innovation Fellowship, hence he co-authored the relevant chapter for Medjack.

Rafeh Ahmed

Incubation lead, CCIT and Innovation Liaison, AKU

Mr. Ahmed has advised several startups on their product development and fundraising strategies. He is currently working with AKU faculty, staff, and students to help develop and scale their projects to adoption and sustainability. He was a natural fit for co-authoring the incubation chapter in Medjack.   

Waqas Akmal

Ad hoc advisor and researcher, CCIT

Dr. Akmal graduated from AKU’s MBBS Class of 2018. At CCIT he served as the Communication Mentor in Residence from 2019 to 2020. During his time with CCIT, he was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the team’s academic publishing pipeline. He continues to remain highly engaged with CCIT​ through the ‘Medjack process’.​​

Umme-Aiman Chippa

MSc. Epidemiology and Biostatistics (candidate), Community Health Sciences, AKU

After successfully completing occupational therapy training, Ms. Chippa joined CCIT through the inaugural batch of the Innovation Fellowship. She penned her experience of the fellowship in the relevant Medjack chapter. She aims to incorporate her learnings from research and innovation into her passion for social entrepreneurship.