Hyderabadi-Born Medical Pioneer Professor Wasim Hanif Awarded OBE in UK King’s Birthday Honours List 

Renowned Diabetologist Was First to expose UK minority Covid risk 

Hyderabad, June 15:  Hyderabad-origin doctor Professor Wasim Hanif, an eminent global authority on diabetes and health equity, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List.

The prestigious royal honor recognizes his monumental services to Diabetes and Health Inequalities, cementing his status as one of the most influential medical voices in the United Kingdom.

Prof. Hanif’s groundbreaking research fundamentally reshaped national healthcare strategy when he became the first scientist to publish definitive data exposing the disproportionate and devastating impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities in the UK.

As the President-Elect of the British Medical Association (BMA) and Professor of Diabetes & Endocrinology at University Hospitals Birmingham, he has spent three decades working on global healthcare policy. His expertise has guided the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union policy forum, and the United Nations health summit via the Commonwealth strategy, alongside crucial cross-border leadership on the UK-India Covid Task Force.

This global achievement traces its roots directly back to India, where Prof. Hanif was born into an eminent family in Hyderabad. He spent his foundational years in the city, completing his early education at the St George’s Grammar School. He then pursued his deep passion for medicine locally, earning his MBBS degree from Gandhi Medical College, affiliated with the centenary-strong Osmania University.

His father served as the General Manager of the Azam Jahi Mills at Gunfoundry.

Prof. Hanif migrated to the United Kingdom in 1995, with the rigorous academic training he received in Hyderabad, to the highest echelons of British medicine. There, he achieved advanced fellowships (MRCP, FRCP) from the Royal College of Physicians, London, and an MD from the University of Birmingham.

Even as the date for a formal investiture ceremony is yet to be announced, greetings and congratulatory messages have begun pouring in from the medical fraternity and the Indian diaspora in the UK, the US, and other parts of the globe as the family celebrates this rare achievement, which honors a journey that began in the heart of Hyderabad and culminates in a royal investiture.