Dr. Rishat Abbas
Brief Biography of Dr. Rishat Abbas
Dr. Rishat Abbas is a pharmaceutical scientist and clinical research leader with over 28 years of research and development experience. He received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Ohio State University, USA, in 1994. Dr. Abbas provided clinical leadership for research and development of 10 innovative new medicines across multiple therapeutic areas. He has a demonstrated track record in drug research and development, having authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, patents, and book chapters. He has also received a number of prestigious awards for his research achievements, including the Science & Technology Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Scientific Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of the Air Force, Best Paper Awards, Exceptional Innovation/Achievement Award and the Milestone Recognition Award for his outstanding contribution to new anti-cancer drug research projects. His accomplishments have been acknowledged through his election as a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
In addition to his professional career, Dr. Abbas has been a prominent advocate for promoting human rights and freedom for the Uyghur people suffering religious persecution and human rights abuses under the communist Chinese regime. He was a co-founder and first-elected President of the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 1998. Since 1997, he has been briefing U.S. lawmakers and government officials on the Uyghur human rights situation and the crisis in East Turkistan and has worked with the U.S. Statement Department and non-governmental organizations for promoting basic rights and religious freedom for the Uyghur people. After the 1997 Ghulja massacre, Dr. Abbas played an important role in advocating to US Congress for the establishment of the Uyghur Program at Radio Free Asia in 1998. He introduced the deteriorating Uyghur human rights situation in East Turkistan to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in 1999 and laid the foundation for the NED’s funding of UAA (under the title of Uyghur Human Rights Project) in 2004 and subsequent funding of the World Uyghur Congress in 2005. Dr. Abbas is an honorary chairman of the Uyghur Academy (2015 – 2021) and has contributed to the establishment of a global Uyghur Academy network with branches in the US, Europe, Australia, Turkey, Central Asia, Canada and Japan. He was elected as the President of the Uyghur Academy – International in December 2021. He is also a co-founder and senior advisor to Campaign for Uyghurs.
On September 24, 2019, Dr. Abbas testified on the Uyghur Human Rights Crisis in China at an historic event hosted by the U.S. State Department in collaboration with European Union, Germany, Netherlands, UK, and Canada during the 74th Session of the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA 74) in New York. Dr. Abbas actively lobbied the US Congress on the passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020. He has been a core member of the Uyghur Tribunal Preparation Committee since the summer of 2020, where he provided guidance on the coordination of documentation and document translation activities for the Tribunal hearings in June and September 2021. In 2021, Dr. Abbas advocated for the formation of the U.S. Congressional Uyghur Caucus.