Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan

Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan FRCP FTWAS (Arabic: أحمد محمد الحسن; 10 April 1930 – 10 November 2022) was a Sudanese professor of pathology.

Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan
FRCP FTWAS FRCPath
أحمد محمد الحسن
Minister of Higher Education
and Scientific Research
In office
1971–1972
Personal details
Born(1930-04-10)10 April 1930
Berber, Sudan
Died10 November 2022(2022-11-10) (aged 92)
Al Riyad, Khartoum, Sudan
Citizenship
  • Sudanese
  • Saudi[1]
Education
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

El Hassan was born and reared in Sudan. He received most of his medical training at the University of Khartoum before completing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1965. Upon his return to Sudan, he led the Department of Pathology (1966–1969) and the Faculty of Medicine (1969–1971) before briefly heading the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (1971–1972). He became the president of the Medical Research Council (1972–1977), while helping establish the Department of Pathology at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia and the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology, Sudan. In addition, El Hassan was the Founding Director of the Institute of Endemic Diseases (1993–2000), the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) (2005–2011) and the Sudanese Cancer Society (2008–2009).

El Hassan focused on epidemiology and the immunopathology of tropical and infectious diseases. As a result, Sudan bestowed upon him the highest orders of merit, and the Sudanese state of Al Qadarif's tropical medicine centre was named after him. In addition, he received WHO's 1987 Shousha Prize, RSTMH's 1996 Donald Mackay Medal, and the 2017–2018 Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum award.

Life and career

Early life and education

El Hassan was born in Berber, Sudan, on 10 April 1930.[2][3] Like many at that time, he started his education at a Quranic school (Khalwa) before joining Berber Intermediate School. He later moved to Khartoum to join Omdurman Secondary School in 1945.[4]

El Hassan attended the Kitchener School of Medicine (now Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum).[5] He graduated with a distinction in Medicine and Surgery in 1955 while winning the Kitchener Memorial prize for best graduate.[4] He joined the Sudanese Ministry of Health to train, starting as a houseman between 1955 and 1957, and a medical officer from 1957 to 1958 in different locations in Khartoum, Omdurman and Northern State. He then returned to the Pathology Department, University of Khartoum as a research assistant.[6][7]

El Hassan continued his training at the University of London and obtained a Diploma in Clinical Pathology (DCP) in 1961.[4] He returned to the University of Khartoum for a short period (1962–1963) as a lecturer before starting a doctor of philosophy in Immunology at the University of Edinburgh, which he completed in 1965.[8][9]

Career
First row from left, Mansour Haseeb, HV Morgan and Mohamed Hamad Satti. Second row, far left, El Hassan. ca. 1965

El Hassan returned to the Department of Pathology, University of Khartoum as a senior lecturer before becoming a professor and department head in 1966.[2] In 1969, El Hassan was made the Faculty of Medicine's dean and the university's deputy vice-chancellor.[10][11]

El Hassan was the founding minister of higher education and scientific research, Sudan, between 1971 and 1972, after which he became the president of the Medical Research Council (1972–1977). El Hassan then joined King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, as a professor in 1977 and helped establish the Department of Pathology before leaving in 1979, to return in 1981 as the director of research until 1987.[5][12]

Between 1979–1980, El Hassan was in Sudan as the director of the Tropical Diseases Institute, and he established the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology.[2] Upon his return from Saudi Arabia in 1988, he continued working at the department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum.[7][11]

El Hassan was the founding director of the Institute of Endemic Diseases between 1993 and 2000, and continued his affiliation with the institute as an Emeritus Professor of Pathology until his death in 2022.[2] El Hassan was the Founding President of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) in 2005, and was the president of the Sudanese Cancer Society between 2008 and 2009.[5][6]

El Hassan was a visiting professor at the University of London, University of Copenhagen, Ahfad University for Women, and October 6 University.[2][4] He was a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO), and a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of Tropical Disease Research, WHO.[4]

Personal life and death

El Hassan married Amal Galal Mohamed in 1959 and had four daughters.[6] He had a keen interest in photography and music. He established the first medical photography and illustration unit in Sudan. He learned to play the oud and published his book Writings on Medicine, Music and Literature in 2017.[3][4]

El Hassan died on 10 November 2022 in his house in Al Riyadh, Khartoum from natural causes.[5][9]

Research

El Hassan focused on epidemiology and immunopathology of tropical and infectious diseases, especially leishmaniasis[13][14] and mycetoma,[15] including diagnosis, therapy, and vaccines.[16][17] His research also investigated leprosy and malaria, and after 2005, he shifted his focus to nasopharyngeal cancer. He received research grants from the World Health Organization's Tropical Disease Research, the Wellcome Trust, Danish International Development Agency, and The World Academy of Sciences.[4]

Awards and honours

The Government of Sudan awarded El Hassan the Gold Medal for Research and Science in 1977, El Neelain Order (First Class) in 1979, and the Order of Merit (First Class) in 1995.[4][2] He received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the Ahfad University for Women in 2006.[2] Professor Ahmed Mohamed El-Hassan Center for Tropical Medicine in Doka, Al Qadarif State,[18] and EL Hassan Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Clinical Trials Research in Soba, Khartoum[19][20] were named after him in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, London (FRCPath) in 1964, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London (FRCP) in 1974,[21] and a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS) in 1996.[22] He received the Shousha Prize from the World Health Organization in 1987,[23] Donald Mackay Medal from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1996,[24] and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum Award for medical sciences in 2017–2018.[11]

Selected publications

References
  1. "WHO | Public health prizes and awards" (PDF). apps.who.int. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. "Ahmed Elhassan | Just another UofK site". Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  3. في وداع البروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن .. بقلم: البروفيسور. الوليد محمد الأمين [Farewell to Professor Ahmed Mohamed Al-Hassan.. Written by: Professor. Waleed Mohammed Al-Ami]. سودانايل (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  4. Ahmed El Safi. Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan: Milestones in tropical disease, pathology, cancer research & medical education (PDF). 30 April 2019. ISBN 978-1096419341. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022 – via Independently published.
  5. وفاة البروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن: السودان يفقد أبرز علمائه في مجال الطب والبحث العلمي - اوبن سودان [The death of Professor Ahmed Mohamed Al-Hassan: Sudan loses its most prominent scientists in the field of medicine and scientific research - Open Sudan] (in Arabic). 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  6. "News & Events". www.snas.org.sd. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. بروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن أحد أول عشرة أطباء في تاريخ السودان [Professor Ahmed Mohamed Al-Hassan, one of the first ten doctors in the history of Sudan]. سودارس (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  8. "Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan". mycetoma. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  9. اوبن سودان | وفاة البروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن: السودان يفقد أبرز علماءه في مجال الطب والبحث العلمي (السودان) [Open Sudan | The death of Professor Ahmed Mohamed Al-Hassan: Sudan is losing its most prominent scientists in the field of medicine and scientific research (Sudan)]. موقع نبض (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  10. في رثاء البروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن (4) .. بقلم: زهير السراج [In the lamentation of Professor Ahmed Muhammad Al-Hassan (4).. Written by: Zuhair Al-Sarraj]. سودانايل (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  11. "Prof. Ahmed M El Hassan - Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences - HMA". hmaward.org.ae. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  12. البروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن يتفقد مركز أبحاث المايستوما ومركز الحسن لأبحاث الأمراض المدارية المهملة [Professor Ahmed Mohammed Al-Hassan inspects the Mycetoma Research Center and the Al-Hassan Center for Neglected Tropical Diseases Research]. سودانية نيوز (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  13. Zijlstra, E. E.; Musa, A. M.; Khalil, E. a. G.; Hassan, IM El; El-Hassan, A. M. (1 February 2003). "Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 3 (2): 87–98. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00517-6. ISSN 1473-3099. PMID 12560194. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  14. Ghalib, H. W.; Piuvezam, M. R.; Skeiky, Y. A.; Siddig, M.; Hashim, F. A.; el-Hassan, A. M.; Russo, D. M.; Reed, S. G. (1 July 1993). "Interleukin 10 production correlates with pathology in human Leishmania donovani infections". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 92 (1): 324–329. doi:10.1172/JCI116570. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 293600. PMID 8326000. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  15. Fahal, Ahmed; Mahgoub, El Sheikh; El Hassan, Ahmed Mohamed; Abdel-Rahman, Manar Elsheikh; Alshambaty, Yassir; Hashim, Ahmed; Hago, Ali; Zijlstra, Eduard E. (2014). "A new model for management of mycetoma in the Sudan". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 8 (10): e3271. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003271. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 4214669. PMID 25356640.
  16. Ménard, Didier; Khim, Nimol; Beghain, Johann; Adegnika, Ayola A.; Shafiul-Alam, Mohammad; Amodu, Olukemi; Rahim-Awab, Ghulam; Barnadas, Céline; Berry, Antoine; Boum, Yap; Bustos, Maria D.; Cao, Jun; Chen, Jun-Hu; Collet, Louis; Cui, Liwang (23 June 2016). "A Worldwide Map of Plasmodium falciparum K13-Propeller Polymorphisms". New England Journal of Medicine. 374 (25): 2453–2464. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1513137. ISSN 0028-4793. PMC 4955562. PMID 27332904.
  17. Zijlstra, E E; el-Hassan, A M; Ismael, A; Ghalib, H W (1 December 1994). "Endemic kala-azar in eastern Sudan: a longitudinal study on the incidence of clinical and subclinical infection and post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 51 (6): 826–836. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.1994.51.826. ISSN 1476-1645. PMID 7810819.
  18. Abubakr, Bakri. افتتاح مركز بروفيسور أحمد محمد الحسن لطب المناطق الحاره بمدينة دوكه ولاية القضارف [The inauguration of the Professor Ahmed Mohamed El-Hassan Center for Tropical Medicine in Doka, Gedaref State]. Sudaneseonline (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  19. "EL Hassan Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Clinical Trials Research". mycetoma.edu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  20. Elhassan Centre For Neglected Tropical Diseases Clinical Trails, archived from the original on 26 January 2023, retrieved 26 January 2023
  21. "Professor Ahmed Mohamed EL Hassan". mycetoma. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  22. "El Hassan, Ahmed Mohamed". TWAS. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  23. "WHO | Public health prizes and awards". apps.who.int. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  24. "Donald Mackay Medal | RSTMH". rstmh.org. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.

Further reading

Ahmed El Safi. Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan: Milestones in tropical disease, pathology, cancer research & medical education, Sudan Medical Heritage Foundation Publications (2008), ISBN 978-99942-899-5-0.


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