{{Short description|Pakistani molecular biologist (1941–2016)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox scientist | name = S. Qasim Mehdi | birth_date = 13 February 1941 | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|9|28|1941|2|13|df=y}} | citizenship = Pakistan | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * Lucknow University <small>(BS)</small> * Massachusetts Institute of Technology <small>(MS)</small> * Oxford University <small>(PhD)</small>}} | thesis_title = Synthesis and Control of Bacterial Ribonucleic Acids | thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/Home.do;jsessionid=2121AB3322337C734E9C36C9B4E9E4DC | thesis_year = 1969 | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | known_for = {{Plainlist| * Molecular biology * Human genetics}} | awards = {{Plainlist| Hilal-e-Imtiaz Sitara-e-Imtiaz }} | field = Molecular biology, Genetics | work_institutions = {{Plainlist| * Stanford University * Oxford University * Free University of Berlin * Massachusetts Institute of Technology * Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation Biomedical & Genetic Engineering Division, Pakistan}} }}
S. '''Qasim Mehdi''' (or '''Syed Qasim Mehdi'''; 13 February 1941 – 28 September 2016) was a renowned Pakistani molecular biologist<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1286954/dr-qasim-mehdi-dies-in-lahore |title = Dr Qasim Mehdi dies in Lahore|date = 2016-09-30}}</ref><ref name="hstalks.com">{{cite web|url=https://hstalks.com/expert/308/prof-s-qasim-mehdi/|title=Prof. S. Qasim Mehdi|work=hstalks.com|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="ias-worldwide.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ias-worldwide.org/profiles/prof88.html|title=Prof. Syed Qasem Mehdi|work=ias-worldwide.org|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-date=12 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312071226/http://www.ias-worldwide.org/profiles/prof88.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> who worked in population genetics. He was a founding member of the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) with prominent role in the initiation of this project at the Stanford University.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.genetics.org/content/183/3/1065|title=Population Differentiation as an Indicator of Recent Positive Selection in Humans: An Empirical Evaluation|first1=Yali|last1=Xue|first2=Xuelong|last2=Zhang|first3=Ni|last3=Huang|first4=Allan|last4=Daly|first5=Christopher J.|last5=Gillson|first6=Daniel G.|last6=MacArthur|first7=Bryndis|last7=Yngvadottir|first8=Alexandra C.|last8=Nica|first9=Cara|last9=Woodwark|first10=Yuan|last10=Chen|first11=Donald F.|last11=Conrad|first12=Qasim|last12=Ayub|first13=S. Qasim|last13=Mehdi|first14=Pu|last14=Li|first15=Chris|last15=Tyler-Smith|date=1 November 2009|volume=183|issue=3|pages=1065–1077|access-date=7 June 2016|doi=10.1534/genetics.109.107722|pmid=19737746|pmc=2778960|journal=Genetics}}</ref>
== Biography ==
Mehdi was born in Lucknow, India, where he completed his B.S. from the Lucknow University. He received his MS from MIT and then a D.Phil. (doctorate) degree from the Oxford University, where he had mentors like Nobel laureates Sir Hans Krebs and Rodney Porter. His doctoral education was followed by a series of fellowships at the Oxford and the Wellcome Trust, until appointed by the Stanford University as a research associate in 1976 and later a senior research fellow, affiliated with the Stanford University Departments of Chemistry and Radiology and Stanford Cancer Biology Research Labs.<ref name="ias-worldwide.org"/> He has been fellow of the Wellcome Trust (1972–1974) and the Biochemical Society, UK (1972–1997), other than holding numerous other honors, awards, and fellowships.
His last appointment was serving as the chairman of the Center for Human Genetics at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi, Pakistan, as well as a distinguished visiting professor in the University of Karachi, Karachi Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Syed_Qasim_Mehdi/info|title=Syed Qasim Mehdi - Info|work=researchgate.net|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref> In past, he had served as a Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission Pakistan, and director general of the Biomedical & Genetic Engineering Division, Islamabad,<ref name="hstalks.com"/> at the Institute for Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering, University of Karachi, Pakistan. He was a recipient of the Government of Pakistan civil awards, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1998) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the "Crescent of Distinction" (2003) conferred by the president of Pakistan.
He had been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the New York Academy of Sciences, Prime Ministers Cabinet Committee for the Evaluation of Research, Development in Science and Technology in Pakistan, Advanced Studies Board, HEJ Research Inst. of Chemistry, Karachi University, 1993-, The World Bank Committee for Higher Education in Pakistan, elected member, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, the International Retinitis Pigmentosa Society (Retinitis Pigmentosa International) and The Foundation Fighting Blindness society, Washington DC (1993–present), Human Genome Organization (HUGO), London (UK), founding member, Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) USA. (1994–present), chairman, Southwest Asia Committee and Member International Executive Committee, HGDP and (1997–present), among a number of other professional bodies.
During his last years, he had been working on charting a direction for the future of biomedical research in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pc.gov.pk/vision2030/approach%20paper/(Innovative%20Society)Qasim%20Mehdi-Future%20of%20Medicine%20and%20Biomedical%20Research.pdf|title=THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH IN PAKISTAN: 1st Draft|work=pc.gov.pk|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531230236/http://pc.gov.pk/vision2030/approach%20paper/(Innovative%20Society)Qasim%20Mehdi-Future%20of%20Medicine%20and%20Biomedical%20Research.pdf|archive-date=31 May 2016}}</ref>
Other than his role in HGDP, he is known for his groundbreaking work on the genetics of human populations,<ref name="hstalks.com"/> especially on research work related to the human features of Light skin and Dark skin, where he and his team made important contributions (ref.: see Light skin and Dark skin pages citing his work). He has written over two hundred publications, including papers in Science, Nature Genetics and Genome Research. As per google scholar, his publications have accrued a total number of 7745 citations, his scholarly indices include an h-index of 38 and I10-index of 67.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hwPz-LsAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Syed Qasim Mehdi - Google Scholar Citations|work=google.com|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref>
Mehdi died peacefully in Lahore on 28 September 2016 after a protracted illness.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1190858/distinguished-scientist-dr-qasim-mehdi-passes-away/ | title=Distinguished scientist: Dr Qasim Mehdi passes away| date=2016-09-29}}</ref>
== Fellowships == * Wellcome Trust * Biochemical Society * Third World Academy of Sciences{{fact|date=July 2025}} * Pakistan Academy of Sciences{{fact|date=July 2025}} * Islamic Academy of Sciences{{fact|date=July 2025}} * Chemical Society of Pakistan{{fact|date=July 2025}}
== Selected publications (highly-cited work) == *{{cite journal|title=Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations|first1=Peter A.|last1=Underhill|first2=Peidong|last2=Shen|first3=Alice A.|last3=Lin|first4=Li|last4=Jin|first5=Giuseppe|last5=Passarino|first6=Wei H.|last6=Yang|first7=Erin|last7=Kauffman|first8=Batsheva|last8=Bonné-Tamir|first9=Jaume|last9=Bertranpetit|first10=Paolo|last10=Francalacci|last11=others|date=1 January 2000|volume=26|issue=3|pages=358–361|doi=10.1038/81685|pmid=11062480|journal=Nature Genetics|s2cid=12893406}} *{{cite journal|title=Detection of numerous Y chromosome biallelic polymorphisms by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography|journal=Genome Research|first1=Peter A.|last1=Underhill|first2=Li|last2=Jin|first3=Alice A.|last3=Lin|first4=S. Qasim|last4=Mehdi|first5=Trefor|last5=Jenkins|first6=Douglas|last6=Vollrath|first7=Ronald W.|last7=Davis|first8=L. Luca|last8=Cavalli-Sforza|first9=Peter J.|last9=Oefner|date=1 January 1997|volume=7|issue=10|pages=996–1005|doi=10.1101/gr.7.10.996|pmid=9331370|pmc=310671}} *{{cite journal|pmid=11954565|title=A human genome diversity cell line panel.|first1=Howard M.|last1=Cann|first2=Claudia|last2=De Toma|first3=Lucien|last3=Cazes|first4=Marie-Fernande|last4=Legrand|first5=Valerie|last5=Morel|first6=Laurence|last6=Piouffre|first7=Julia|last7=Bodmer|first8=Walter F.|last8=Bodmer|first9=Batsheva|last9=Bonne-Tamir|first10=Anne|last10=Cambon-Thomsen|last11=others|date=1 January 2002|volume=296|issue=5566|pages=261–2|doi=10.1126/science.296.5566.261b|journal=Science|s2cid=41595131}} *{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.05.015|pmid = 22726845|pmc = 3397267|title = Ethiopian Genetic Diversity Reveals Linguistic Stratification and Complex Influences on the Ethiopian Gene Pool|journal = The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume = 91|issue = 1|pages = 83–96|year = 2012|last1 = Pagani|first1 = Luca|last2 = Kivisild|first2 = Toomas|last3 = Tarekegn|first3 = Ayele|last4 = Ekong|first4 = Rosemary|last5 = Plaster|first5 = Chris|last6 = Gallego Romero|first6 = Irene|last7 = Ayub|first7 = Qasim|last8 = Mehdi|first8 = S. Qasim|last9 = Thomas|first9 = Mark G.|last10 = Luiselli|first10 = Donata|last11 = Bekele|first11 = Endashaw|last12 = Bradman|first12 = Neil|last13 = Balding|first13 = David J.|last14 = Tyler-Smith|first14 = Chris}} *{{cite journal|title=Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor|first1=Lluís|last1=Quintana-Murci|first2=Raphaëlle|last2=Chaix|first3=R. Spencer|last3=Wells|first4=Doron M.|last4=Behar|first5=Hamid|last5=Sayar|first6=Rosaria|last6=Scozzari|first7=Chiara|last7=Rengo|first8=Nadia|last8=Al-Zahery|first9=Ornella|last9=Semino|first10=A. Silvana|last10=Santachiara-Benerecetti|first11=Alfredo|last11=Coppa|first12=Qasim|last12=Ayub|first13=Aisha|last13=Mohyuddin|first14=Chris|last14=Tyler-Smith|first15=S.|last15=Qasim Mehdi|first16=Antonio|last16=Torroni|first17=Ken|last17=McElreavey|date=1 May 2004|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=74|issue=5|pages=827–845|doi=10.1086/383236|pmid=15077202|pmc=1181978}}
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehdi, Qasim}} Category:1941 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Pakistani molecular biologists Category:Academic staff of the University of Karachi Category:Pakistani scientists Category:Muhajir people Category:Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Category:Indian emigrants to Pakistan Category:People from Lucknow