Journey and Accomplishments of Our Son and Daughter
By Zafar Iqbal, PhD
Washington, DC
On this forthcoming Father's Day, we are incredibly grateful and proud to share a little about the journey and accomplishments of our son, Jameel, and our daughter, Shareen.
Your encouragement, prayers, and unwavering goodwill have meaningfully shaped their paths. We truly believe that such support forms the unseen foundation of their achievements.
Shareen Amina Iqbal, PhD, MPH
Dr Shareen Amina Iqbal is a scientific review officer at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She leads peer review activities within NIDA’s Division of Extramural Research, manages Special Emphasis Panels focused on substance use disorders (SUDs), and ensures that funding decisions reflect scientific rigor, fairness, and integrity.
Dr Iqbal earned her PhD in Neuroscience and Pathology and MPH from Emory University. Her research spans mental illness, substance use, HIV risk behaviors, and health disparities, with over 1,300 citations of her peer-reviewed work. She also collaborates with Emory University’s Department of Urology on studies involving tuberculosis, substance use interventions, and research reproducibility.
Before NIH, she held scientific roles at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), contributing to national public health efforts as a scientist, information specialist, and epidemiologist. Her multidisciplinary expertise has supported responses to complex health challenges.
Dr Iqbal frequently speaks at national and international conferences and has served on various federal scientific panels. She is also deeply engaged in community outreach and mentoring, particularly encouraging underrepresented minorities to pursue science and public health careers. Her contributions have earned recognition for scientific leadership and community impact.
Dr Iqbal exemplifies a career devoted to advancing science, health equity, and public service.
Jameel Zafer Iqbal, MD, PhD
Dr Jameel Iqbal is the Vice President and Laboratory Director at DaVita Labs, where he plays a key leadership role in overseeing nationwide diagnostic testing services that support DaVita patients and clinical teams across the United States.
Dr Iqbal earned both his MD and PhD from the prestigious Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He completed his residency in Pathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, California.
Before joining DaVita, Dr Iqbal served as Chief of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in New York. He also held academic appointments as Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Mount Sinai, where he led impactful research on aging.
A prolific scientist, Dr Iqbal has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals and contributed chapters to several medical and scientific books.
