Founding Directors of THAAP
Prof. Pervaiz Vandal, Managing Director THAAP
Prof. Pervaiz Vandal is a well-known educationist and architect / planner. He is the managing director of THAAP and served as the founder Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Institute for Art and Culture, which he was instrumental in establishing. He served as an Advisor and Founder of the Department of Architecture at COMSATS University. He also headed the Department of Architecture at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. He was a consultant to World Bank for health and education projects, in particular Family Health Projects, mid-term review involving assessment of project planning, implementation, modifications and specific targeting for the remaining years; study on Maintenance and Repair of Schools in Pakistan for Multi-Donor Support Unit for Social Action Program, World Bank Resident Mission in Pakistan; Consultant to World Bank mission for Education Sector Institutional Reforms (ESIR) in Pakistan; the projects aimed to enhance access to education facilities through construction of elementary schools in all the provinces of Pakistan.
Prof. Vandal has over 50 years of experience of designing landmark buildings and developing master plans for educational campuses ranging from schools to universities. He has to his credit the spectacular campus of the Institute of Art and Culture, Lahore, several of the campuses of the Grammar Schools in Lahore and Islamabad. He was responsible for the design of new additions to Kinnaird College for Women Campus in Lahore and to the FCC University at Lahore. Prof. Vandal’s forte is heritage site planning and area conservation. The sensitive interventions that he has planned in several of the historic/ heritage premises such as the campuses of Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore and Forman Christian College (a chartered university) has ensured that the campuses have retained their original ambience in spite of several new buildings being added and adaptive reuse of many of the old buildings which had served their purpose.
Prof. Pervaiz Vandal is also the Director of THAAP Publications and the Series Editor of the THAAP Journal. He is widely published in national and international journals and has several books and chapters in books to his credit.
Prof. Sajida Haider Vandal, CEO THAAP GROUP
Prof. Sajida Haider Vandal, is an architect, urban designer, cultural heritage specialist and community engagement expert with extensive experience of working in the architecture/ heritage field. As the CEO of THAAP (the only accredited NGO of UNESCO in Pakistan within the framework of Convention 2003), she has led the Group and serves as the Lead Expert/ Director of the subset THAAP Heritage. Prof, Vandal has also extensive experience as an educationist. She recently stepped down as the Vice Chancellor of the Institute for Art and Culture, a federally chartered university in the private sector which she was instrumental in establishing. Earlier, she was the Principal of the National College of Arts, Lahore for three terms of 4 years each. She served as Professor of Architecture and for many years and is also UNESCO expert facilitator under the Convention 2003 for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. She has worked in many countries of the Asia Pacific region including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and China and with several international agencies including UNESCO, UNDP, USAID, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Prof. Vandal has extensive experience as design architect with an exhaustive list of innovative projects to her credit covering master planning, architecture design, conservation, adaptive reuse, heritage site planning and management including World Heritage Sites (WHS). In the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Prof. Vandal has played a key role in safeguarding ICH particularly through her work in the creative and cultural sector over the last over 50 years. Her latest works include the Government of Punjab – World Bank funded projects within the framework of cultural tourism “Development of an Integrated Site Management Plan (ISMP) and Capacity Building for Sustainable Tourism Management of Selected Sikh Sites.”” and the ongoing ISMP for Qilla Kohna Qasim Bagh; Multan and Capacity Building for Sustainable Tourism.” Prof. Vandal’s design practice among others includes the Mira Phailbus Center, Kinnaird College, Lahore. Her published works includes the seminal “The Raj, Lahore and Bhai Ram Singh,” “Cultural Expressions of South Punjab,” and Conservation of Shalimar Garden.
Omar Haider Vandal, PhD
Immunologist
Film Maker
GPA 4.0/4.0 magna cum laude; Commencement Speaker, 5 Academic Awards, 10 publications including one in Nature
Education
1. 2001-2007: PhD. Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis (Cornell University, New York )
2. 1996-1999: B.A. Biology/Chemistry (Honors) (The College of Wooster, Ohio )
GPA 3.7/4.0; Cum Laude; Dean’s List
Omar Vandal is the Program Officer Drug Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Discovery and Translational Sciences. SEATTLE, WA. He manages a US$100M portfolio of investments to deliver new enabling technologies, screening assays, and pre-clinical animal models to accelerate drug discovery in tuberculosis, malaria, and other priority diseases. Dr. Vandal partners with the academic, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors on collaborative programs to develop, validate and transition technologies to industry, along defined milestones and deliverables, and evaluates performance of investments, while also examining new investment opportunities.
Omar Vandal has had a brilliant career in the scientific and creative sector. His earlier work was widely acknowledged beginning with the work he carried out as a young researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center NEW YORK NY Cancer and Autoimmunity Unit (1999-2001) where he was credited for having Engineered a new T-cell receptor transgenic mouse that was the first to show that low-affinity T-cells can induce multiple sclerosis in animal models (Published in PloS One). This was followed with his widely recognized contribution as Post-Doctoral Associate & Graduate Student, Immunology and Microbiology (2001-2008) Cornell University NEW YORK NY. Omar discovered new therapeutic targets for tuberculosis through a large-scale, multi-year genetic screen of >10,000 mutants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (10 publications, including Nature Medicine 2008). He studied the role of a novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis membrane protease in bacterial virulence and developed functional assays and high-throughput screens to identity inhibitors and later Supervised spin-off research projects of 3 graduate students and 2 lab technicians. Omar has several publications in high-ranking scientific journals including the top most prestigious scientific journal Nature
Omar has been involved with the cultural field as a Film Maker. He co-founded a production company and non-profit for science education through film/television in 2003 Kailoola Productions LLC NEW YORK NY and continues to be its, partner and producer. Kailoola Productions award winning documentary Salam (2018) is widely recognized and is currently shown worldwide on Netflix. Omar is an imaginative and innovative fund raiser and an excellent manager of human and financial resources. He designed projects and programs, managed grass-roots fundraising, recruited advisory board and consultants.
Omar contributes to THAAP Not-for-Profit through his many skill sets including his engagement and interest in the creative field and in management of the organization’s activities. His greatest contribution is setting the strategic direction for the foundation in accordance with international practices. Omar brings to the humble organization of THAAP (Not-for-profit), the valuable knowledge gained through working with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.
Ammr Haider Vandal
New York, USA registered architect
Khatak Dancer
Education
1. 2005-2008: Master of Architecture (GSAPP, Columbia University, NY, USA )
2. 1998-2001: Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) Major: Economics Minor: Studio Art (College of Wooster).
3. 1998: International Baccalaureate (IB) and UWC Diploma Li Po Chun United World College, Hong Kong.
Ammr Vandal, is an award-winning architect currently based in New York, USA. She is credited with the highly acclaimed residential game changer “Micro Housing” at Carmel Place New York (10 story, 33,000 sft residential building with micro units and retails space on ground floor in NY, BY) preceded with several other honors that she had received as architect while working as principal architect with the Brooklyn based architecture company Architects. This included American Institute for Architecture (AIA) Merit Award (2013) for the Wyckoff House Museum Award among others. Ammr Vandal is also the recipient of the Columbia University, Urban Think Tank award for excellence in design (Studio Project Fall 2007) which led to her working for the largest squatter settlement in Venezuela in 2008. Her work was recognized in Publication in GSAPP abstract (Studio Projects for spring 2006, Fall 2006, Fall 2007, E&E II, Building Systems II). Ammr Vandal is member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon (Honor Society in Economics).
Ammr Vandal has been involved for the last 4 years in the development sector through the UK based company “The Collective”. She was Director Architecture for the US Operation till September 2021 and is now setting up her own company in New York. Ammr is a New York registered architect
Ammr started her volunteer work in school, responding to many situations where she could be of service to humanity such as in the Earthquake 2005. Working in Mansehra, KP for Karavan Pakistan on the KAPIT Program, Rehabilitation and Redevelopment of Kodar Village. She has since been contributing in many ways for the uplift of Pakistani society and volunteering for THAAP (Not for Profit) by offering free service for many of the THAAP Group’s endeavors.
