Sania Nishtar is the founder of many health institutions in Pakistan, the NGO Heartfile, Pakistan’s Health Policy Forum and Heartfile Health Financing. She served as a federal minister in Pakistan’s 2013 Interim Government, where she held four portfolios. Internationally, she is part of many global health initiatives and a member of the board of several international agencies as well as agencies in Pakistan. She serves as co-chair of the WHO Commission on Childhood Obesity and is widely considered thought leader on health policy. In addition to being a regular plenary speaker or chair at global health meetings, she is also a key voice in health policy and governance reform in Pakistan.
Nishtar is the author of six books, more than 100 peer review articles and around the same number of op-eds. She is the recipient of Pakistan’s Sitara e-Imtiaz, the European Societies Population Science Award, Global Innovation award and many accolades of the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge and the American Biographical Center. Nishtar holds a fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and a PhD from Kings College, London. She was a college best graduate and received 16 gold medals a record which remains unbroken to date.