Dr. Zafer Ali-khan

Biography

Dr. Zafer Ali-Khan, 1937-2017 Our friend and colleague Zafer Ali-Khan was many things to many people both at McGill and around the world. He devoured the news media both in print and video and was the only person I knew who read Al Jazeera on a regular basis. As a consequence, he could speak knowledgably on the political problems and situations of peoples and countries around the world, and next door. In the years since his retirement, we would meet for a Friday breakfast as often as possible and the conversation would always gravitate to unusual current affairs. I am sure he would find the current political situation in the country to our south very amusing. Following a Masters in Parasitology from the University of Karachi, Pakistan, a PhD from Tulane in New Orleans, and post-doc from UCLA, Zafer Ali-Khan became an outstanding expert in the field of parasitology. Following his arrival at McGill, he was often consulted by several Montreal Hospitals for his opinion on the biopsies and specimens taken from patients presenting with unusual lesions. From 1972 – 78, he was Director of the Clinical Parasitology Unit at Royal Victoria Hospital. His research focused on amyloidosis, a chronic and often fatal disease in which a variety of chronic inflammatory responses caused the defective folding and accumulation of insoluble deposits of amyloid protein fibrils in otherwise healthy tissues, disrupting their normal function. Amyloid deposits in the kidney interfere with kidney function and other affected target organs include the heart, and possibly the brain. Zafer discovered that some chronic parasitic diseases can trigger the partial alteration of amyloid precursors and the misfolding that accelerates amyloid deposition. Using the parasite Ehinococcus multilocularis, he developed a mouse model for exploring amyloid production, its deposition and the pathological consequences of amyloidosis. In recent years, he noted a similarity between some of the tissue changes in his model with those seen in Alzheimer’s Disease. He was a passionate researcher, following his vision to gain insight into the pathogenesis and possible means of preventing amyloidosis and related diseases, and trained many students in the art of research. He published over 65 articles while at McGill with his students in Parasitology, Immunology and Pathology journals, and contributed chapters in a number of scholarly books in his areas of interest. He was much appreciated and played a key role in enhancing the lives of many graduate students through his role as Chair of the Graduate Committee, a position he held for 10 years from 2000 – 2010.

Research Interest

Microbiology and Immunology