Professor Khalid Kadir is an eminent academician, a prolific researcher, a respected clinician and a dedicated teacher of medicine
Tan Sri Dato' Dr Yahya Awang,
Member of the nomination committee,
Health, Science & Technology category
Profile
Professor Dato' Dr Khalid bin Tan Sri Abdul Kadir was born in 1948, in Nong Chik, Johor.
Professor Khalid excelled academically even at an early age. Securing the Silver Medal for Best Student from Sultan Abdul Hamid College after completing his lower secondary education, Professor Khalid attended the Royal Military College in Sungai Besi, completing upper secondary education and winning the prestigious Commandant's Prize Top Student.
Professor Khalid commenced his medical studies at Monash University, Australia, graduating with first-class honours B.Med.Sc. in 1973 and first class honours in MBBS in 1975, winning the Henry Hindlip Green Prize in Clinical Medicine and the Harriet Power Prize in Medicine.
He worked at the Alfred Hospital and Prince Henry's Hospital, Melbourne, where he trained for his FRACP in endocrinology, awarded in 1982 and Ph.D in Medicine awarded in 1984.
Professor Khalid commenced teaching at University Kebangsaan Malaysia (the National University of Malaysia, or UKM) as a lecturer in 1982. Professor Khalid's career at UKM was nothing short of a meteoric rise with his promotion to Associate Professor in 1984 and Head of the Department of Medicine in the following year. In 1990, Professor Khalid achieved full professorship and was appointed Dean of the Faculty ofMedicine, UKM. He later became the director of the UKM Hospital (HUKM) in 1996, and was made Senior Professor of Medicine in 2000. Professor Khalid retired in 2004 and was made Professor Emeritus.
In a return to his educational roots, Professor Khalid joined Monash University Malaysia as Professor of Medicine. In 2006, he was appointed as the Head of the Johor Clinical School, Monash University Malaysia. In addition, Professor Khalid is also Consultant Endocrinologist at Pantai Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Throughout the course of his brilliant academic career, Professor Khalid has amassed many accolades in recognition of his contribution to medical science. He holds memberships in many local and international medical and endocrinological organisations, as well as in various academic committees.
Professor Khalid is passionate about his work as a doctor, as a researcher and as a teacher. He was instrumental in the setting up of the research school in Hospital UKM (HUKM), and believes in the importance of research. Under his leadership, support and encouragement, research in the faculty thrived.
Professor Khalid's concern for the welfare and education of his charges is dear to his heart. He has continually stressed the importance of preparing the next generation to take over as the vanguard of research and education, and has supervised and encouraged many students in their postgraduate research work, including many PhD candidates. In recognition of his dedication as a teacher and researcher, Professor Khalid has won the Best Researcher and Best Teacher awards from UKM.
When not conducting research, teaching students or treating patients, Professor Khalid enjoys fishing and listening to classic rock music. Professor Khalid also indulges in his hobby of collecting duck figurines, believing that the duck, a symbol of a migratory spirit that never fails to return home after each journey, is a creature that is adaptable to any environment.
Professor Khalid is married to Datin Dr Norella Kong Chiew Tong, a lecturer in nephrology, and is the proud father of three sons. The couple have three grandchildren.
Championing Research
In the course of his extensive research, Professor khalid has made many significant contributions to the field of endocrinology. He has been selected to receive the Merdeka Award for his contributions to two areas of endocrinology, namely his work on the study and understanding of diabetes, and the relationship between hormones and stresses in various tissues.
Wall of achievements. Prof Khalid is a highly qualified endocrinologist and has obtained many international awards to his name.Diabetes
After returning from Australia, Professor Khalid took a keen interest in addressing the rapidly rising cases of diabetes prevalence in Malaysia. Motivated by his research interest, Professor Khalid sought to understand why diabetes was becoming more widespread over the last two decades. In particular, he undertook research to investigate the correlations between diabetes and modern lifestyle.
Professor Khalid then became actively involved in diabetes epidemiology research. This led to work on clinical drug trials on diabetes, obesity and dyslipidaemia.
Professor Khalid's active involvement in diabetes research is also evident in the investigation of the increasing occurrence of diabetes in younger age groups. He spearheaded the young Diabetes Study (YDP) from 1996 to 1999. The main objective of the study was to look at the health status of young Malaysian adults diagnosed with diabetes before the age of 40. Early onset of diabetes is now increasingly common. About 1,000 patients were recruited by his collaborators at the various health centres around the country for the study which resulted in generating nine publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Another landmark diabetes study carried out concurrently with the yDP study was the Asian young Diabetes Research Study (ASDIAB) to investigate the etiology (study of causes of diseases), pathophysiology and natural history of diabetes in young Asian diabetics. In 2003, together with his international collaborators from China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore, he published the findings in the Diabetic Medicine journal.
Professor Khalid continues to champion diabetes research even after his retirement. Despite being occupied with his private practice and teaching responsibility at the Monash University Malaysia, he accepted an offer from his old teammates to jointly participate in a research project proposed by the Ministry of Health Malaysia in 2007. The research on Metabolic Syndrome in Malaysia (MSSM) is now near completion and it is expected to produce a wealth of data that is much needed by the Ministry of Health to stem the rising epidemic of diabetes and its complications in this country.
In addition to his laboratory work, Professor Khalid has also set about educating the Malaysian public on the dangers of the disease through articles in the media.
Professor Khalid believes in the importance of educating the next generation of doctors and researchers, instilling in them a love for study and research.Relationship Between Hormones And Stress
Having been interested in the subject since his undergraduate days, Professor Khalid has devoted much of his research career to studying how stress affects the human body. Dato' Khalid's research group has investigated the mechanism of stress, the nature of stress either acute or chronic, physical and mental stresses as well as the hormones and enzymes involved during and after exposure to stress.
Beginning with corticoid hormones, Professor Khalid went on to explore the effects of endorphins and other enzymes in regulating bodily functions and metabolism during periods of stress. He has also researched methods to counter the potentially deleterious reactions of stress derived hormones in the human body.
In addition to his vast contributions to the corpus of work in this field, Professor Khalid has also encouraged his students interested in endocrinology to conduct their own research on the subject. He has supervised much postgraduate endocrinology research, and to this day continues to conduct research on the subject, particularly in the area of stress and steroids and 11 beta hydroxysteroid with his fellow lecturers at Monash University Malaysia,
Malaysian endocrinologists in 1982. Prof Khalid is standing at the far right.Concluding Remarks
Professor Khalid's numerous achievements have had a deep and lasting impact on Malaysia and Malaysian society With nearly 300 published articles on diabetes and endocrinology, and with his continuing research efforts, Professor Khalid has significantly improved the understanding of endocrinology. His research on the efficacy of diabetes treatment and monitoring of diabetes in Malaysia have aided in formulating strategies to combat the disease. His work has also contributed to the development and implementation of national strategies and programmes to prevent and control diabetes, and reduce its risks. Professor Khalid's epidemiology research and clinical drug trials, as well as research on insulin resistance have aided in creating new treatments for diabetes.