Comments by other friends of the late Dr. ASM Mizanur Rahman

Mizanur was a rock - a solid, dependable treasure who could always be counted on to be there and to do the right thing and do it well. One of the great benefits of doing field research in Matlab was the fact, proven time and again, that one didn’t have to worry about the quality of clinical care. One was confident that Mizanur was way ahead of the curve and would provide. He not only delivered state-of-the-art care for cholera, he developed it!
George Curlin, MD. (NIH, Bethesda, Maryland)
 
I spent but two weeks with Mizan at Matlab, but we bonded as good friends, and I always considered him my first teacher at the CRL.  And he had a lovely sense of humor.
Sincerely, Bert Hirschhorn (now living in London, England)
 
Dr. Md Yunus of ICDDR,B: He was my first supervisor in Matlab and I worked with him for about 10 years. He was not only my supervisor but also my teacher and a friend. I learnt from him the management of cholera and diarrhoeal diseases and many other things. I have so many memories with him which I can’t narrate at this moment.

David Sack recalled Mizan was his mentor in Matlab, teaching him about cholera and treating the patients in the Matlab hospital. His role as the clinical physician in the early development of the ORS was remarkable. His kind spirit will be missed.
David Sack, Exec. Director, ICDDR,B
 
Mizanur was an excellent person, and someone whose memory I will always cherish.
It was Mizan who was the physician in charge when we did the first ORT studies in Matlab. We spent a lot of time together then as I was living on the barge and we would often go for walks in the bazaar where he added to my education. It was Mizan more than anyone who taught us all about the treatment of cholera in a rural centre because that really was where the action was and had to be. He was all the things that you have said in your comments and more. He really represented the great tradition of the CRL and all its incarnations since then. I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to visit with him and his family last year in old Dhaka.
Please extend my condolences to his family. I’ll look around for some photos, which I must have in one pile or another.
Richard Cash (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston)
 
Thank you for your message about Mizanur Rahman. He indeed was an invaluable member of the staff and clinically was essentialin developing the highest standard of patient care at Matlab, making possible the clinical studies carried out there, most notably the world’s first large scale field trial of oral therapy. With best regards on this sad occasion,
David Nalin (CRL Alumni, retired from Merck Pharmaceuticals)

I am truly saddened to hear the Dr. Mizanur Rahman has passed away.  I certainly have very clear memories of working with him.  In fact, he played the key role in the early transformation of the Matlab hospital for just a field site for patient care and data gathering to becoming a real clinical research center.I recall quite clearly when I joined the CRL in 1965 and took over the epidemiology division, including the Matlab operation, that the "field hospital" was essentially an extension of the Dacca hospital.  Physicians from Dacca were temporarily assigned to Matlab, usually on two-week rotations.  Most went reluctantly, as the situation in Matlab was pretty primitive at that time - no electricity or running water - and the medical ward was situated in the main deck of the barge, while the doctor and other staff slept on the upper deck.  As a result, there was really no true medical oversight of the clinical care services.
 
During my first year there, Bud Benenson, the CRL director did get funds to assist the East
Pakistan government in building a "pucca" health center, with the stipulation that the added space would be used for the cholera hospital.  At around this same time, recognizing that it was essential to have a full time medical director at the Matlab hospital, I asked Mizanur Rahman if he would take on the job.  This was a big sacrifice at the time, as all the "action" in terms of clinical research was in Dhaka.  Furthermore living conditions for a family were not hardly desirable.  Mizanur willingly accepted the challenge, and this was truly a turning point in the whole research program at Matlab.
 
We could never have implemented the first large scale clinical trial of ORT (designed by Cash and Nalin), if Mizanur had not had the hospital operations all set up and running smoothly.  And - though few know this story - immediately after the field trial was successfully completed, Mizanur and I agreed that the Matlab hospital would move to full scale implementation of ORT.  This was several years before the Dhaka hospital fully made the shift to ORT.  Many more clinical research projects were centered at Matlab and I know that Dr. Rahman’s name is on many publications;  I can say with little fear of contradiction that his contributions to the research in Matlab were always of the highest technical quality and at the same time managed with meticulous care for the welfare of the patients.
 
From a personal perspective, Mizanur Rahman was one of the kindest, caring and most unassuming persons I have ever met.  He truly cared for the people in Matlab, and never considered his work there just a job.  I also know that when he had deal with so many foreigners, not all of whom were very understanding and considerate, he always did his best to accommodate to their needs.  His ability to work under pressure with calm assurance, whether in an epidemic situation, or when pressed by the researchers, is a mark of his character.
One thing for certain, I know that once I had put Dr. Mizanur Rahman in charge of the Matlab hospital, I never had to spend my time troubleshooting the operation there.  He was a person in whom I could have full confidence that anything he did would be done with dedication, and full commitment to the program of the CRL and to the welfare of the people he served.
May his soul rest in peace.
 
Henry Mosley, former Director of ICDDR,B
Department of Population and Family Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD 21205
 

Dr. ASM Mizanur Rahman was a physician and human being who appeared unassuming, but left a giant heritage at ICDDR,B/CRL. His quiet leadership has had an enormous impact on the institution in a very direct and personal way. He set an example to all who worked with him and truly cared for his patients in the fullest sense of this word. I grieve his loss and send my deep condolences to his family. I feel privileged to have known him as a colleague and friend. In the Holy Qu’ran it is said that "Of things that endure, good deeds are the best and most lasting heritage of our lives." Mizanur Rahman has left such a lasting heritage and is an example to us all.

William B. Greenough III, M.D.
Professor
Johns Hopkins University
John R. Burton Pavilion, Terrace Level
5505 Hopkins Bayview Circle
Baltimore, MD 21224
Phone: 410-550-0782
Fax: 410-550-2513
Email:
wgreeno2@jhmi.edu or trigsby@jhmi.edu