Mahmudur Rahman Choudhury

For other uses, see Mahmudur Rahman (disambiguation).

Mahmudur Rahman Choudhury (1 June 1928 – 24 June 1999)^[1] also known as Major General MR Choudhury, was a medical scientist and physician from Bangladesh who was the founder commandant of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh awarded him the Independence Day Award, the highest civilian honor in the country, in 1977. The institution Choudhury built up, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Bangladesh also received the same award as a center of excellence later in 1987.^[1]

Mahmudur Rahman Choudhury
Native name	মাহমুদুর রহমান চৌধুরী
Born	(1928-06-01)1 June 1928 Sylhet, Assam, British India
Died	24 June 1999(1999-06-24) (aged 71) Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh
Allegiance	Pakistan (before 1972)  Bangladesh
Branch	Pakistan Army  Bangladesh Army
Years of service	1952 – 1992
Rank	Major General
Unit	Army Medical Corps
Commands	Commandant of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Bangladesh
Awards	Independence Day Award Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam
Alma mater	University of Calcutta University of London

Early life and career

Born on 1 June 1928, in Sylhet, Choudhury graduated from Calcutta Medical College in 1951, as a student of the University of Calcutta and obtained D. Bact. with distinction from the University of London in 1959. He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps in 1952. For his professional excellence as a junior major, Choudhury received a letter of commendation from the commander in chief and was honored with the civil award Tamgha-e-Quaide Azam. Dr. M.R. Choudhury was posted at Islamabad as the Executive Director of National Health Laboratories, now National Institute of Health, Islamabad in 1970. After the independence of Bangladesh Choudhury played the key role in the establishment of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Bangladesh in 1976. He also organized the Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists the same year and was its founder president. He had the distinction of being awarded MRCPath without examination, and subsequently FRCPath by the Royal Society of Pathologists of United Kingdom. General Choudhury played a pivotal role in the internationalization of Icddr,b and served on its Board of Trustees until his passing. He was instrumental in founding the National AIDS Committee in Bangladesh in 1985, led national HIV/AIDS policy development, and chaired the committee from 1989 to 1992.^[1]

The monumental work of MR Choudhury was the publication of 'Modern Medical Microbiology (1980). The latest enlarged and revised version of the book was completed by the author just before his death.^[2] An analysis of the health sector of Bangladesh, which he conducted in 1987 and wrote along with Dr. Zafrullah Chowdhury (Gonosasthya Kendra) and Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank). Although the health policy report was approved by the Government of Bangladesh, it was never published due to political reasons.^[3]