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Iqbal Ahmad, Ph.D. |
NOTE: This profile is part of a series highlighting the 26 researchers who were named UNMC Distinguished Scientists or New Investigators for 2007. Each of these researchers will be profiled in UNMC Today leading up to a March 20 ceremony to recognize their achievements.
- Name: Iqbal Ahmad, Ph.D,
- Title: Professor
- Joined UNMC: 1994
- Home country: India
Briefly describe your research in laymen terms please.
Our lab is interested in understanding mechanisms underlying brain development and using the emerging information to treat neurodegenerative diseases.
What led you decide to pursue this area of research?
I am fascinated by how our brain is put together and functions. It is the final frontier in the mystery of life.
How do you see your research contributing to science?
We are trying to understand a very small piece of a very complex puzzle, and how it fits or does not fit into the scheme of brain development.
Why did you become a scientist?
By default. I wanted to be a physician and work in underprivileged parts of the world but I couldn’t get good enough score for medical school admission. I drifted towards zoology and then cell biology until I discovered my passion for research, stirred by the mystery of the brain.
What is your hope for the next generation of scientists?
I wished I were a graduate student now. With new techniques, information revolution and remarkable resources, the sky is the limit.
Beyond grant funding, how do you measure success?
To me, you are successful if you could work in an area that excites you, motivates you, puzzles you and keeps you awake sometimes.
What would you tell a student interested in a research career?
Have insatiable curiosity but bring common sense, too.
Do you have a hero/role model? If so, what do you admire most about this person?
I do not know. However, I am completely in awe of Darwin’s remarkable observations and interpretations that are helping us understand diversification in nature and explore the evolution of the human mind and culture.
Tell us about your family and hobbies outside the lab.
My source of support and happiness, beyond the lab, is my wife, Sofia, and children, Faraz and Hiba. I like gardening, photography and music.
List some things few people know about you.
- I like people watching.
- I study human behavior and evolutionary psychology as a hobby.