The syndicate of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University on Tuesday approved a centre for artificial intelligence, robotic surgery and digital healthcare, along with an international medical college and a College of Pharmacy. The decisions were made unanimously at a syndicate meeting chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Tanwir Khaliq, with attendees including Senator Fawzia Arshad, MNA Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Higher Education Commission Executive Director Prof Dr Ziaul Haq, Quaid-i-Azam University Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, and SZABMU Registrar Prof Dr Syed Tanseer Asghar.
The syndicate approved the Centre for AI, Robotics, Health Intelligence and Policy Innovation as the university’s first centre of excellence for AI enabled robotic surgery and digital disease management. The centre will focus on robotic assisted surgery, AI applications in medicine, digital diagnostics and precision healthcare, positioning it as a hub bringing together several distinct but related areas of medical technology under a single institutional umbrella rather than treating them as separate initiatives. It will also offer research opportunities, advanced training and international partnerships, giving the centre a role that extends beyond clinical application into academic research and global collaboration.
The proposal for the centre was presented by Prof Dr Syed Tanseer Asghar, who is also a surgeon, giving the initiative a direct link to practicing clinical expertise rather than a purely administrative or academic proposal. The centre is expected to serve as a hub for advanced surgical training and medical research, suggesting SZABMU intends for it to function as both a teaching facility for the next generation of surgeons and a base for ongoing research into how AI and robotics can be applied within clinical settings. Beyond the AI and robotics centre, the syndicate also gave conceptual approval for an international medical college in Islamabad, which will primarily cater to overseas Pakistanis, children of expatriates, foreign nationals and international students. Prof Khaliq said the initiative would help position SZABMU as a regional hub for medical education and strengthen its international academic links, extending the university’s reach beyond its existing domestic student base. The university also received approval to establish a College of Pharmacy, which will offer Pharm-D and postgraduate research programmes, adding a further dedicated academic track to SZABMU’s expanding range of health sciences education.
The syndicate was further informed that several PhD and specialised programmes had been approved in surgery, medicine, cardiology, pharmacy, physiology, public health, molecular biology and operative prosthodontics. Taken together, the approvals reflect a broad expansion of SZABMU’s academic and research offerings across multiple disciplines, with the new AI and robotics centre standing out as the university’s most direct move into applying emerging technology to clinical practice and medical training.
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