Aysha Akhtar is an American neurologist, public health specialist and animal ethicist.[1][2] Akhtar is co-founder, CEO, and President of the Center for Contemporary Sciences.[2] She is a US veteran.
Aysha Akhtar | |
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| Occupation(s) | Neurologist, public health specialist, co-founder and CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences |
Biography
Akhtar has a master’s degree in public health and is double board-certified in both neurology and preventive medicine.[1] She was a Medical Officer for the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats and Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service.[3] She was previously Deputy Director of the Army’s Traumatic Brain Injury Program.
Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and is a consultant editor for the Journal of Animal Ethics.[1] She is a long-term advocate of animal rights and attended animal protection events from a young age.[4]
In 2019, Akhtar authored Our Symphony with Animals: On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies which combines medicine, social sciences and personal stories.[5] Her book explores how empathy with animals deeply affects humans’ health and well-being. Akhtar argues that animals are co-equals, worthy of compassion and respect.[6] She has stated that "I am on a mission to show how treating animals with kindness is not only good for animals, but also good for us."[7]
She was a speaker at The Rethinking Animals Summit and the DC VegFest in 2019.[8][9]
Personal life
Aysha Akhtar is married and lives in Maryland. She is a first generation Pakistani American and is a contemporary artist. Akhtar is a vegan.[10]
Selected publications
- Animals and Public Health: Why Treating Animals Better is Critical to Human Welfare (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012)[11]
- The Need to Include Animal Protection in Public Health Policies (Journal of Public Health Policy, 2013)
- The Flaws and Human Harms of Animal Experimentation (Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 2015)
- Our Symphony with Animals: On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies (Pegasus Books, 2019) ISBN 978-1-64313-070-5[12]