Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan

Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan (; 10 April 1930 – 10 November 2022) was a Sudanese professor of pathology.

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. 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.

El Hassan attended the Kitchener School of Medicine (now Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum). He graduated with a distinction in Medicine and Surgery in 1955 while winning the Kitchener Memorial prize for best graduate.

El Hassan continued his training at the University of London and obtained a Diploma in Clinical Pathology (DCP) in 1961.

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.

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.

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. and mycetoma, including diagnosis, therapy, and vaccines. 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. and EL Hassan Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Clinical Trials Research in Soba, Khartoum 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, and a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS) in 1996. He received the Shousha Prize from the World Health Organization in 1987, Donald Mackay Medal from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1996, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum Award for medical sciences in 2017–2018.

Selected publications Zijlstra, E. E.; Musa, A. M.; Khalil, E. a. G.; Hassan, IM El; El-Hassan, A. M. (2003-02). Postkala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 3 (2): 87–98. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00517-6. . PMID 12560194. Ghalib, H. W.; Piuvezam, M. R.; Skeiky, Y. A.; Siddig, M.; Hashim, F. A.; El-Hassan, A. M.; Russo, D. M.; Reed, S. G. (1993-07). Interleukin 10 production correlates with pathology in human Leishmania donovani infections. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 92 (1): 324–329. doi:10.1172/JCI116570. . PMID 8326000. Zijlstra, E E; El-Hassan, A. M. (2001–04). Leishmaniasis in Sudan. 3. Visceral leishmaniasis. Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. S27–S58. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(01)90218-4. Zijlstra, E E; El-Hassan, A. M.; Ismael, A; Ghalib, H W (1994-12). 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. . PMID 7810819.