Dr Nadir Ali Syed, a leading Pakistani neurologist and senior faculty member at Aga Khan University, passed away in Karachi unexpectedly this morning at the age of 60.
According to family sources, Dr Syed went to bathroom and locked the door. When he did not respond for an extended period, the door was forced open and he was found unresponsive.
Dr Syed was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Dr Syed was widely known for his work in adult neurology, particularly in the treatment of epilepsy, stroke, and headache disorders.
Most recently, he served as a clinical neurologist at South City Hospital and was part-time faculty at the Aga Khan University’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
An alumnus of Karachi Grammar School, Dr Syed graduated with honors from the Aga Khan University Hospital’s MBBS program.
He then proceeded to the United States for clinical training in neurology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, where he was appointed chief resident in one of the country’s top neurology programs.
He later completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, the world’s largest biomedical research institution, where he gained expertise in complex neurological diagnostics.
In 1998, Dr Syed returned to Pakistan to join the neurology faculty at AKUH.
He was a key contributor to the development of the neurosciences curriculum and chaired the university’s neurosciences module committee.
Dr Syed also served as Associate Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education, led neurology section at AKUH to become the largest neurology department in the country.
Dr Syed was a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Neurology), the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Clinical Neurophysiology).
He authored over 25 international research publications and received numerous awards for his academic, clinical, and educational contributions.
