We remember Dr. Moslem Uddin Khan(1 Nov. 1930 - 18 July 2006)

A Presidential gold medallist, one of the senior-most, retired investigators from the Pak-SEATO Cholera Research Laboratory/ICDDR,B and Head of the Dept. of Community Med. of Uttara Women Medical College, Dr. Moslem Uddin Khan, passed away in Dhaka on July 18, 2006. His Namaze Janaza prayer was given at Banani Jame Masjiid on the same day and at ICDDRB on the following day, attended by 100s of his relatives, friends and well wishers, including friends from his years of contributions towards the improved health of his countrymen.
 
After finishing studies from Carmichael College he graduated from Dhaka Medical College in mid fifties with an additional specialization in ophthalmology. Dr. M. U. Khan married a lovely girl from Gaibandha, Mrs. Rafia Khan (Daisy), and started his career as the District Health Officer of Rangpur. He joined CRL in April 1964, retiring in 1990.
 
Dr. M. U. Khan worked on long-term epidemiological and clinical studies of cholera, shigellosis and malnutrition, as well as evaluations of numerous interventions. Intensive studies of children’s growth in the Hindu fishing village of Mehran in Matlab revealed that debilitating cholera was directly related to drinking water sources and fecal contamination. He was one of the first investigators to study the benefits of hand washing upon disease reductions at the family and community levels. His paper on effective interruptions of shigellosis as a result of proper hand washing was published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine.     

WH Mosley, Glimpse, Sept-Dec. 2003
 
The benefits of alum potash to decontaminate pond water were reported in the Lancet in 1984. His epidemiological expertise and cultural insights were utilized in many vaccine trails, investigations of causes of malnutrition, breast-feeding practices, antibiotic resistance patterns of diarrhoea pathogens and environmental hosts for infectious diseases. Following his retirement from ICDDRB in 1986, Dr. MU Khan worked as a professor of Community Medicine at the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Abha and later as an advisor to the Ministry of Health, Riyadh, both in Saudi Arabia. Finally, he worked as the Head of the Department of Community Medicine at Uttara Women Medical College, Dhaka.
           
As a busy physician and scientist, this soft spoken and gracious gentleman took the responsibility for the development of benefits for his co-workers at CRL by serving as one of the first Staff Welfare Association Presidents in the 1960s.

Dr. Khan is one of the outstanding Bangladeshi scientists in terms of numbers of research results published as book chapters and in national and international, peer-reviewed journals. A gold medal was awarded to Dr. Khan from The Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and The Bangladesh Medical Association recognized him for his lifetime work. He was also distinguished as one of the outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England and offered the American Medal of Honor by the American Biographical Institute. He occasionally practiced as an ophthalmologist and helped many poor by serving in the Lions Club, Dhaka.
 
He is the founder and builder of Prof. Moslem Uddin Khan College at his home village, Joynagar, Shariatpur where his body was interred as his last wish. His wife, Daisy, Mrs. Rafia Khan and three daughters survive him. His eldest daughter Dr. Rukhsana Parveen (also known as Dr. Parveen), an alumnus of the ICDDRB, is married to an interventional cardiologist, Dr. Khaled Mohsin, who is abroad at present for further higher studies. His second daughter Dr. Nasrin Parvin, is also married to an interventional cardiologist, Dr. Tamzeed Ahmed, who works in the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital & Research Institute, in BIRDEM. His youngest daughter, Architect Shakila Parveen, is married to Architect Md. Mustafa Hasan, both working at Development Design Consultants Ltd. Many grieving family members, friends and colleagues thank God for Dr. Khan’s good works while on earth.
 
One of his earliest CRL colleagues, Dr. Jack Craig, wrote the following testimonial:

I was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of my dear friend, Dr. Muslim-Uddin Khan. Yes, indeed, I felt closer to Dr. Khan than to any of the other Bangladeshi scientists with whom I worked many years ago. …I was the person responsible for selecting Dr. Khan to come to the old CRL in the spring of 1964. And I think my support of his candidacy was the most important and valuable contribution I made to the parent organization, and to its successor, the ICDDR/B.
   
In February 1964, after the communal disturbances in January had laid waste to Rayer Bazaar, I proposed to Bob Oseasohn, Chief of the Epidemiology Division, that we launch a study of about 100-200 families in the village. He agreed, and allowed me to interview candidates for the position of coordinator of the project with supervision over several nurses, home visitors, sanitary workers, and others, to carry out the study.
   
We put an ad in the paper, and Dr. Khan applied. I interviewed him and was immediately impressed by his dignity, demeanor, scholarly accomplishments, and sincerity in wishing to pursue a career in epidemiology. He was enthusiastic about the possibility of supervising the Rayer Bazaar study.   I recommended to Bob Oseasohn and Bud Benenson, the CRL Director at the time, that we hire Dr. Khan to head the team, which would conduct the field and laboratory studies in Rayer Bazaar. They agreed. He began work in April 1964.
 
He did an excellent job of coordinating the study, supervising the field team, and collecting and analyzing data from field and lab. Out of this modest beginning grew the larger Rayar Bazar studies designed and conducted by Dr. Khan and Dr. Wiley Mosley during the ensuing years. I left the CRL at the end of 1964, but Dr. Khan carried on the study, which evolved into a much bigger program with wider goals.
   
Everyone now knows about the many independent epidemiological studies conceived, initiated and supervised by Dr. Khan in the years that followed, including his stellar work on the impact of hand washing in enteric disease prevention, and many other independent epidemiological investigations.
   
But, many of the younger generation may not be aware of the earliest chapter in Dr. Khan’s career. I am extremely proud of the small role I played in recognizing Dr. Khan’s abilities in his youth, and initiating and promoting his affiliation with the original CRL, which, in turn, led to his position of leadership in the epidemiological programs of its successor institution, the ICDDR/B.
   
He was a fine physician, a generous and selfless leader of scientific studies, and a kind and gentle beacon to his countrymen.

With my warmest condolences to all who knew Dr. Khan, Dr. Jack Craig, USA