Zareen Zaidi, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (GW SMHS), has been selected as a Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education (KIPRIME) Fellow.
The selective fellowship program recognizes distinguished mid-career researchers from around the world who are experts in medical education. Launched in 2019 to help develop future leaders, KIPRIME Fellows are nominated by past prize winners and represent a cohort of scholars whose work demonstrates both scientific rigor and meaningful impact.
“The KIPRIME Fellowship selects from a highly competitive, international pool of mid-career researchers in medical education, and the cohort is always exceptionally talented. Zareen was a bright light in this year’s group, challenging herself and others to critically examine the values that underpin our scholarly work”, explained Lorelei Lingard, a distinguished university professor and scientist in the Centre for Education Research and Innovation at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University, who received the Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education in 2018 and is now a lead faculty member for the KIPRIME Fellowship. “Zareen’s research is timely and brave, advancing critical conversations about academic freedom that demand scholarly attention in today’s socio-political climate. Her inclusion in the program demonstrates the value and necessity of critical scholarship in the medical education field.”
“It was an absolute pleasure to become acquainted with Dr. Zaidi. She is not only a brilliant and exceptionally promising world-class scholar in the field of medical education, but she also displayed remarkable eloquence and outstanding communication skills. It is a truly rare combination — to excel as a leading academic whilst exhibiting a flair for performance that would not be out of place in an audition at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London,” said Jonas Nordquist, director of the KIPRIME Fellows Programme.
“Dr. Zaidi’s selection underscores the global significance of her scholarship on hierarchical power relations in medical education,” said Anthony R. Artino Jr., PhD, associate dean for educational research and professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences, and of medicine, of Zaidi, who was the only KIPRIME Fellow among this year’s cohort selected to represent the United States. “Through rigorous, theoretically grounded research informed by critical theory, Dr. Zaidi has challenged the field to examine whose voices, epistemologies, and identities are centered — and excluded — within health professions education.”
Zaidi’s work extends beyond theory to create practical change to developing mentorship programs that address barriers in medical education, building platforms that amplify underrepresented voices in academic publishing, and designing teaching methods that encourage educators and learners to think critically about their roles and impact. At GW, Zaidi has helped grow the educational research capacity of all SMHS faculty through her work in the Center for Faculty Excellence and the Academy of Education Scholars.
The KIPRIME Fellows program is hosted and co-supported by the Gunnar Höglund and Anna-Stina Malmborg Foundation and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Recipients participate in a week-long program of mentoring, professional development, and networking with past laureates, joining an international community dedicated to advancing excellence in medical education.
“The KIPRIME program has been instrumental in encouraging me to explore and fully commit to my academic passions,” said Zaidi. “The experience felt transformative — as if I’d been awakened to new possibilities in the most affirming way.”
This recognition affirms both Zaidi’s scholarly contributions and commitment to supporting scholarship that interrogates embedded hierarchies and institutional barriers in medical education. We look forward to seeing how this fellowship catalyzes new collaborations, amplifies research impact, and contributes to building a more inclusive and just health professions education landscape globally.
Photo credit: Erik Cronberg
