Dr. Syed Sattar has been granted the ASTM International’s 2017 Award of Merit, the highest award granted by the society for distinguished service to the standards-setting organization. The award is accompanied by the honorary title of Fellow.
ASTM develops standards used in the manufacture and marketing of products. Formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, its aim is to foster product reliability and consumer safety in private and professional settings.
Dr. Sattar, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine, conducts research dealing with environmental/medical microbiology as it pertains to public health. Since 1993, Dr. Sattar has been an active volunteer with the ASTM’s Committee E35 on Pesticides, Antimicrobials and Alternative Control Agents, having joined the organization when, while conducting research on disinfectants and antiseptics, he found the methods used to test particular products to be unsound.
“I realized that many products being sold for use in hospitals in particular to prevent the spread of infections were assessed using seriously flawed methods of testing,” he explains.
Such methods had the approval of standards-setting organizations, Dr. Sattar says, and were accepted by regulatory agencies. Believing change was needed to accepted standards of testing, he became an active participant in standard-setting organizations.
ASTM reports that after his years of contributions, “seven test methods developed by Dr. Sattar are now standards of ASTM and are referenced globally to assess disinfectants and antiseptic for their activities against human and animal pathogens.”
Mr. Thomas Marsh, Chairman of ASTM International’s Board of Directors, presented Dr. Sattar with his award on April 4 at a ceremony in Toronto. “Dr. Sattar’s extensive knowledge and commitment to excellence in standards development have had a major impact in his field,” said Mr. Marsh.
Dr. Sattar’s work is a perfect example of how basic science lays the foundation for the health and welfare of Canadians.
“The importance of strict standards can’t be overstated,” Dr. Sattar says.
“Our work to set and refine standards contributes to clean, safe environments for physicians and scientists to work in, and for patients to receive proper care.”
