Overview
I'm a student at Duke University doing my master's in Analytical Political Economy (class of 2026) with a record scholarship (Duke Master's Econ Scholar Award). I did my bachelor's in Econ & Math at IBA Karachi with a 3.94 CGPA (summa cum laude).
Belonging to Pakistan, I'm very interested in the political economics of developing countries. In particular, having seen the catastrophic effects of climate change in Pakistan, I'm interested in environmental economics and how Pakistan's political economy prevents it from enforcing robust climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Towards this end, my research work "Climate Finance in South Asia", forthcoming in the Consilience Journal of Columbia University, observes what factors hinder demand for sustainable finance in Pakistan and South Asia.
My research interests also include the economics of religion and how religious institutions affect economic growth and development. My research work "The Next of Beliefs and Banking", forthcoming in Columbia Economic Review, looks at how Islamic institutions hinder financial inclusion in Pakistan.
I've worked for almost 4 as a client success manager at Trademor x Alibaba, a writing consultant at the Academic Writing Center at IBA, and a Teacher Assistant. I've also been the CFO of the Animal Welfare Society at IBA. I've also done internships at Lipton and Engro.
As a distinction holder in A-level Economics in Pakistan, I was awarded an Emergent Ventures Award by Professor Tyler Cowen, Mercatus Center, to pursue Economics. I've also done multiple projects of model optimization in R, Python, and PyTorch. Aside from academics and work, I invest and powerlift. I am also a big soccer fan and was part of a club, GSA, for 6 years. Super into Philosophy, particularly Stoicism and Absurdism. And dogs. I love dogs.