An experienced Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon from UK, Dr Zakir has undertaken his General Surgery training and Specialist Colorectal training from renowned Colorectal centres in England and CCT (in Colorectal Surgery) from the UK; he also achieved Advanced Laparoscopic and Robotic Fellowship from Hong Kong (University of Hong Kong under Prof WL Law).

Having established himself as an expert in minimally invasive surgery at United Lincolnshire NHS Trust, Dr Zakir performed the first single port colorectal surgery in the region, besides leading the pelvic floor disorder clinic there. During his career, he has also worked at the Regional Cancer Centre in Dammam, dealing with complex colorectal cancers and inflammatory bowel diseases. He joined Mediclinic after successfully setting up Robotic Surgery in that unit, being the first in Saudi Arabia to perform colorectal surgery using the latest DaVinci Xi robot.

Dr Zakir is a member of the Association of Coloproctologists of Great Britain and Ireland and is also currently an Honorary Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.

A fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of both Edinburgh and England, he has published papers in numerous peer-reviewed journals including Lancet and is on the review panel of various International journals. He holds a Master's degree in Health Research and has been lead researcher for many national and international trials. Most recently he was the principal investigator for the ROCSS trial.

With a strong passion for education and research, Dr Zakir holds various positions:

• Associate Professor of Surgery (adjunct), School of Medicine, MBRU Dubai
• Lead tutor for the surgical module at Nottingham Medical School, UK
• Tutor for Masters programme of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• Deputy Director of the Colorectal Fellowship Program in the Eastern Province.
• Chairman of Mediclinic Parkview Privileging committee

In addition, he also established innovative programmes to develop international doctors joining the NHS.