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Dr. Adnan Shakir
April 3, 1921 - March 18, 2010
Dr. Adnan Shakir (left) pictured with son and IMSA President, Dr. Saad Adnan Shakir
Dr. Adnan Shakir passed away on 18 March 2010, survived by his loving wife of sixty-five years (Lamia), two children (Dr. Saad Shakir and Mrs. Nada Kirdar), six grandchildren (Omar, Deena, Zade, and Laith Shakir and Rena and Serra Kirdar), and three great-grandchildren (Leanna and Talia Kirdar-Sindi and Saif Kirdar-Meliti). Dr. Shakir passed away in Mountain View, CA, where he has been residing with his wife for the past twenty years.
Dr. Shakir also leaves behind him a lasting legacy of achievement in the fields of medicine and public health, and especially in maternal and child health. Born on April 3, 1921 in Baghdad, Dr. Shakir received his MD from the Royal College of Medicine in 1944 and began his practice in Baghdad as well as in small and rural villages around Iraq. In addition to receiving his MS in Maternal and Child Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Shakir also studied, taught and practiced in Iraq, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Egypt, and Kenya. He participated in research projects at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, and Stanford University, where he played a critical role in the early stages of the Human Genome Project. Upon returning to Baghdad, Dr. Shakir worked in a variety of clinical settings from private practice to government clinics, and served on the teaching faculty at Baghdad University School of Medicine, where he was Professor of Pediatrics until he retired the mid-1980s.
Dr. Shakir designed the ‘Shakir Strip,’ a field method widely used in developing countries that measures arm circumference to identify, classify, survey, and monitor protein calorie malnutrition in young children (aged 1-5), especially useful when the exact age of the child is not known and health care practitioners are not available. In 1979, during the “International Year of the Child,” Dr. Shakir created a ‘Child-to-Child’ program in which the Shakir Strip was recommended as a means of assessing malnutrition among younger children by older children.
On a personal level, Adnan was very popular among his peers, students, and of course the multiple generations of children he treated. All who met him were impressed by his kindness, warmth, thoughtfulness, humor and outstanding memory for details. Memorial services were held in San Jose, California and London, England, where his two children and their families respectively reside.
When asked what message he hoped to pass on to future generations, Dr. Shakir responded with “Pursue Learning from the Cradle to the Grave.” IMSA-USA hopes to fulfill this legacy in its many lifelong educational initiatives. Dr. Shakir will be honored at our upcoming conference in San Francisco.