During my PhD, I worked on computer simulations of biological systems and processes. The idea was to simulate how a system would develop, evolve or respond to changes in the environment. The reverse problem was also interesting: to start at a particular point, far into the future, and see what scenarios and conditions could allow the system from where it is now, to where it ought to be. In other words, what needs to happen, for the system to go from the proverbial point A, to B.

The specifics of my research have moved on from those simulations that I did two decades ago, but the idea of simulation — or perhaps imagination of a different state — has stayed with me. I try this in my classes. We start from where we are on some issue in health, policy or design, and imagine what it could be in years to come. From time to time, when I get to see my young nieces, nephews and children of friends in Pakistan, I play a version of this game with them. I ask: what should Pakistan look like........

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