Institutional Governance

Board of Directors & Advisors

The governing trustees, scholarly advisors, and executive leaders of the Nagamia Institute of Islamic Medicine & Science.

Council of Trustees

Board of Directors

Providing strategic guidance, philanthropic leadership, and ethical governance to uphold the institutional mission of NIIMS across clinical and academic fronts.

Dr. Tajuddin Ahmed

M.D.

Dr. Marium Husain

M.D., MPH

Dr. Afshan H. Ahmed

M.D.

Dr. Mubin Syed

Dr. Aasim Padela

M.D., MSc

Dr. Aamir Dam

M.D.

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed

M.D.

Naim Dam

Academic & Clinical Fellowship

Meet our Advisors

Dr. Constance Shabazz

M.D.

Dr. Abdul Nasser Kaadan

Operations & Archival Direction

Executive Leadership

Alia Hirzalla

Executive Director

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Dr. Tajuddin Ahmed

M.D.

Founding member of IMANA in 1967 in Columbus, Ohio. He was the first to join NIIMS as a member and served as treasurer of both NIIMS and IIIM. A past president of IMANA, he was also a member of the founders' committee of ISNA from its inception and a past president of AFMI.

Additionally, he was a founding member and president of MVIA in 1975, past president of the Clark County Medical Association, founding president and director of cardiology at Community Hospital in 1973, and founding president of Clark and Champaign County Cardiology. He served as corporate chairman of NWSC (Muslim College) and is the founder and president of the Taj Foundation, a nonprofit educational foundation.

Dr. Marium Husain

M.D., MPH

Dr. Marium Husain, MD, MPH is a hematology/oncology fellow at The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed a residency in Internal Medicine. She recently worked as an oncology hospitalist at the James. She is also the President of the national non-profit, IMANA (Islamic Medical Association of North America).

Dr. Afshan H. Ahmed

M.D.

Originally from Tampa, Florida, Dr. Ahmed completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Miami. She left sunny Florida for Ohio State University College of Dentistry, which makes her a “Hurricane Buckeye!” Upon graduating in 1998, she went on to complete the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program at Miami Valley Hospital where she served as chief resident.

Dr. Mubin Syed

Dr. Syed is an interventional radiologist and neuroradiologist who received his radiology residency training at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis followed by interventional radiology and neuroradiology there as well. He is board certified in those disciplines as well as interventional pain, vascular medicine, and obesity medicine. Dr. Syed was recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and Society of Interventional Radiology for his teaching and research contributions to the respective fields. He has published 1 book, multiple book chapters and 32 articles with over 400 citations.

Recently, his article “Gastric Artery Embolization Trial for the Lessening of Appetite Nonsurgically (GET LEAN): Six-Month Preliminary Data,” was recognized as a runner up for the JVIR 2016 Editor’s Award for Distinguished Clinical Study in 2016.

Dr. Aasim Padela

M.D., MSc

Dr. Aasim I. Padela is Professor with Tenure of Emergency Medicine, Bioethics and the Medical Humanities at MCW. In addition to being Vice Chair for Research and Scholarship in the Department of Emergency Medicine, he co-leads the Community Engagement Core for the Comprehensive Injury Center, serves on the Council of Faith for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at MCW, and holds a faculty appointment in the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities in the Institute for Health and Equity.

Dr. Padela is an internationally renowned clinician-researcher with scholarly foci at the intersections of healthcare, bioethics, and religion. In addition to maintaining an active clinical, research, and bioethics practice at MCW, he provides public health and bioethics consultation to international organizations, legislative bodies, and in court.

Dr. Padela is an internationally-recognized thought and research leader, as well as a widely-sought after lecturer, in the fields of Muslim health and healthcare disparity research, and Islamic bioethics.

Dr. Aamir Dam

M.D.

Dr. Dam received his MD degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Boston University Medical Center. Following his residency he completed a Gastroenterology Fellowship at Albany Medical Center, New York, and an Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dr. Dam’s clinical interests include endoscopic therapy for Barrett’s esophagus, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), luminal stenting, management of pancreatic-biliary disorders and screening for colorectal cancer. His clinical focus involves the use of advanced endoscopic techniques including endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies.

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed

M.D.

Dr. Imtiaz is an Allergist and Immunologist. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Environmental, food, insect, drug and chemical allergens. In addition, he diagnoses and treats Immunodeficiencies, Recurrent Sino pulmonary infection, unusual infections and wounds that don’t heal etc. He also treats a host of other diseases like allergic asthma , allergic skin diseases and above all nasal Allergies, sinus infections and all kinds of drug allergies and anaphylactic reactions.

Naim Dam

Naim is the founder & CEO of Hema-Q, Inc., a biomedical start-up company, is a technical expert in the medical ultrasonic core sensing field. He personally holds thirty patents in the fields of biomedical and clinical diagnostic critical parameters sensing systems and has published numerous articles in medical & industrial automation journals. Naim holds a masters degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

Naim is very active in the Muslim community of Long Island, New York and has served as a permanent board member of the Islamic Center of Long Island (ICLI) for over sixteen years. Presently he is involved with the Muslim Youth Foundation, whose aim is to unleash the potential of Muslim youth by cultivating and empowering them to further their contributions to the community. He also helps Muslim entrepreneurs by providing them guidance and seed money to help them start their ventures.

Naim’s interest in Islamic treasures began in 1989 when he met an Antique Dealer who was a scholar in Islamic history and calligraphy. This meeting kindled Naim’s interest in Islamic history, culture and calligraphy. Naim became an avid collector of rare and antique Qurans over the past 30 years and he will be presenting a portion of his collection of antique Qurans and Quranic manuscripts today.

Dr. Constance Shabazz

M.D.

Dr. Constance Shabazz has devoted her professional life to health care and social justice, working in and with underserved communities of color. She has partnered with a number of organizations serving those living with HIV and AIDS as a member of the Southside HIV AIDS Resource Providers, advocating for equitable services for all marginalized communities. Most recently, Shabazz founded and serves as CEO of the Salaam Community Wellness Center in Chicago.

Shabazz has exemplified SIU’s mantra of lifelong learning by obtaining two master’s degrees from St. Xavier University and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She used these skills to establish her own consulting firm, in 2009, through which she has provided technical assistance and program development to the federal government’s Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) for more than 17 years, working with 300+ health centers across the U.S. and Virgin Islands.

Speaking at commencement, Shabazz emphasized the parallels between health care and social justice advocacy. “The knowledge a physician brings to the patient experience is important, but it’s more critical to connect with patients at the human level. When you approach the patient’s problems with compassion, you’re forging trust with them,” she says, “and you’ll get higher compliance for their care plan.”

“Without your health, everything else you need to fight for to improve equity is out the window.”

Dr. Abdul Nasser Kaadan

Specialist in Orthopedic Surgery and the History of Medicine – Aleppo University

Alia Hirzalla

Executive Director

Alia Hirzalla is the Executive Director at the Nagamia Institute of Islamic Medicine and Science (NIIMS). Alia served as the Principal at Mohammed Webb Youth Sunday Program and Al-furqaan Saturday school. She served as a MAS pace leader. She has taught the history of calligraphy in Islam at the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. She has a Bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and a Master’s in community counseling and a second Master’s in Theology with a concentration in Islamic history.