Major General Prof (Dr) A S M Matiur Rahman (Rtd)
Former Advisor, MOH&FW, Water resources & Religious Affairs, Caretaker GOB and Former Commandant AFIP and Professor of Microbiology

Dr Rahman was born on 27 October 1944 in Lakshmipur, Bangladesh.

Academic Qualifications

All through his education, he maintained a brilliant academic career. He graduated from the Dhaka Medical College in 1967 and in the same year he was commissioned in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps and served in different Military hospitals and field medical units. He started his career as specialist in Pathology in 1970  (after successful completion of his specialization course in which he stood first from Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and Armed Forces Medical AFMC) Rawalpindi. He passed MCPS (1976) from the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Clinical Pathology. As a Commonwealth Scholar, he obtained post graduate training from the Teaching Hospitals (Manchester), UK and obtained D.Bact (1978) and M.Sc degree (1980) in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Manchester, UK. He also obtained FCPS (1997) from BCPS and FICS (1999) from the International College of Surgeons, USA. He was awarded FCPS (2000) in Microbiology from the College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP). He was also awarded highest qualification FRCP (2001) from the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh) and FRCP (2005) from the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons (Glasgow). He is a fellow (FBAS) from the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (2000).

Professional & Administrative Career

From the very inception of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) since 1973 he relentlessly worked in various capacities as the Head of the Department of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology and finally as Commandant of AFIP holding the rank of Major General until 2004. He had also been directly involved in the teaching of all the courses of Armed forces like Grading Specialization Courses in Pathology, DCP, FCPS, MPH, M.Phil, M.Sc. Ph.D etc. Apart from his involvement in teaching of the Armed Forces he had also been     actively involved in the post graduate academic activities of the national and international institutions like Dhaka University (DU), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Gono Bishwabiddalaya, Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS), College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), International Center for Diahorreal Diseases and Research (ICDDR’B) National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine(NIPSOM) and other medical institutions. He had contributed immensely to establish the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) as the Chairman of the Task Force Committee of AFMC and actively involved in academic activities of the college as Founder Professor of Microbiology since its inception in 1999. As Commandant of AFIP since 1992 he had organized and developed the Institute as a center of excellence for the national referral laboratory services. He helped produce maximum number of meritorious fellows (FCPS) and postgraduate qualified specialists in different branches of Pathology. Presently, he is the Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka and Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Stamford University Dhaka.

Awards and Achievements

Under his guidance 99 blood transfusion centers have been established in the country for Safe Blood Transfusion as Chairman, Blood Transfusion Sub-Committee (BTSC) of National AIDS Committee (NAC). He played a pivotal role in finalizing legislation on Safe Blood Transfusion, which had been accepted by the Govt. His role in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in the country and the Armed Forces as Chairman of the Technical Committee (TC) of NAC and also chief HIV Advisor, MOH&FW, GOB has been highly appreciated. He was the convener of the select committee for the finalization of National Policy on HIV/AIDS and STD related issues in Bangladesh. As founder honorary guest teacher of the department of Microbiology of Dhaka University (DU) he helped in the establishment of this department and has been continuously involved in the academic activities of this department. As Advisor, MOH&FW, Water Resources & Religious Affairs of Care Taker GOB, he had immensely contributed in the various national and international activities.

He is the recipient of the award "Leader of the Profession" from the University of Science And Technology Chittagong (USTC), Chittagong.
He was elected as "Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (FBAS)" in 2000.
He is the recipient of BAS Dr Sultan Ahmed Gold Medal Award for his best contribution in Medical science.
He is the recipient of the “Award of Excellence for exceptional commitment to and outstanding work in the National AIDS response” in 2010 by UNAIDS.
His active contribution in the foundation of the Department of Microbiology, Dhaka University was recognized and honored in 2015.
He has been honored with “The Lifetime Achievement” award by the Bangladesh Society of Medical Microbiologists. He has also been awarded “The Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists (BSM) as well as “The Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Bangladesh Society of Pathologists (BSP) for his best contribution in the field of Microbiology and Pathology. In September, 2025 he received “The Lifetime Achievement Award" from International Society of Bangladesh-Affiliated Microbiologists (ISBM).

Publications

He has more than 58 publications in the journals of Medical Sciences.

Editorial Experience

He has been the member of Editorial Board of various national Scientific Journals.

Honorary Appointments 

Former Chairman NAC & Technical Committee (TC) of National AIDS Committee (NAC), Chief HIV Advisor to MOH&FW, GOB. Former Chairman, Blood Transfusion Sub Committee (BTSC of NAC), Former President, Bangladesh Society of Pathologists (BSP) & Chairman, Surveillance Advisory Committee (SAC) of National Sentinel Surveillance for HIV/AIDS, Former Chairman National Task Force Committee for the Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B.  Actively involved in all the academic activities of the national & international institutions like DU, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), BCPS, BMRC, Gono Bishwabiddalaya College Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) and ICDDR'B etc. He was the Counselor and Associate Secretary of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences. Presently he is the Counsellor of BAS and is being engaged in promotion of Sciences in the country in various capacities. He is also member of the Technical Committee of BAS-USDA fund and thus is engaged in promoting research activities in Agriculture and Biological Sciences in the country.

He had been the President of the Society of Pathologists and the President of Society of Microbiologists. He is the life member of Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists and life member of Medical Microbiologist (BSM) and life member of Clinical Pathologists. He is also the life member of Bangladesh Society of Pathologists (BSP). He has been regularly conducting seminars, workshops particularly in the field of HIV/AIDS, STDs and Safe Blood Transfusion and thus playing a commendable role in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in this country as an expert on the subject. He is also member of various scientific bodies and of many editorial boards of various journals. He had attended three special sessions in the UN General Assembly Special Sessions on HIV /AIDS (UNGASS) and actively participated in the round table meetings and represented the country in UNGASS.   He is also an active Member on Certification Committee for Polio Eradication in Bangladesh

Countries Visited

Represented the country in many international seminars, workshops, conferences and visited many countries like UK, USA, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Singapore, KSA, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Philippines, Bahamas, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Germany, France and Sri Lanka.