PROF. DR. MOHAMMAD ALI

Professor Mohammad Ali pioneered Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation in Bangladesh. He is the Founder of the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.

Professor Mohammad Ali was born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, in January 1950. He completed his early education at Jalalpur Primary School, Jalalpur, Dewan Abdur Rahim High School, Goherpur, and later attended Murari Chand College (MC College), Sylhet.

Qualifications

He pursued his medical studies at Sylhet M.A.G. Osmani Medical College under the University of Dhaka and graduated (MBBS) with distinction and honors in 1973. He earned his Fellowship (FCPS) in Surgery from the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1982 and later obtained Fellowship (FRCSEd) of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, UK, in 1994.

Specialization in Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery & Liver Transplantation

He completed advanced fellowship training in Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation at Queensland Liver Transplant Services, University of Queensland, Australia, in 1997. He trained under Professor Russell W. Strong, the legendary liver transplant surgeon who pioneered many techniques in liver transplantation, including the first successful living donor liver transplantation.

He further pursued advanced training in liver transplantation at the Second Department of Surgery, University of Tokyo, Japan (2000), and the Department of Transplantation and Immunology, Kyoto University, Japan (2003).

National Contributions

• • Professor Mohammad Ali established Bangladesh’s first Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery at BIRDEM General Hospital in July 1999.
• • He initiated the first successful liver transplantation in Bangladesh at BIRDEM General Hospital in June 2010. In recognition of his pioneering work, he was felicitated by the Members of Parliament of Bangladesh (Jatiya Sangsad) in June 2010.
• • He founded the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh in April 1999, a philanthropic organization committed to the prevention, treatment, education, and research of liver diseases.

Current Positions

• • Honorary Professor, Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery & Liver Transplantation, BIRDEM General Hospital, Dhaka.
• • Chief Consultant & Head, Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, BRB Hospitals Ltd., Dhaka.
• • Secretary General, National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.

Academic & Professional Contributions

• • Served as a teacher of Surgery in various capacities at different medical colleges, including Bangladesh Medical University (formerly IPGM&R), Dhaka.
• • Honorary Consultant, Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka (2005).
• • Conferred the honorary rank of Colonel, Bangladesh Armed Forces (2009).
• • He has trained many doctors in Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery in Bangladesh. Some of them are now heading the Departments of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery in different academic institutes.
• • He is co-author of the textbook “Chronic Allograft Failure” published by the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, USA. He edited the chapter “Hepatic Allograft Loss” (July 2008).
• • He has many publications in the national and international journals.

Founding the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh and its Affiliations with Global Viral Hepatitis Organizations

Through the Foundation, he initiated numerous impactful programs, including hepatitis patient conferences, Zakat Fund for underprivileged Hepatitis B and C patients and free hepatitis testing and vaccination programs for orphan children. He decentralized Hepatitis programmes for reaching the unreachables.

He served as Temporary Advisor to the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region (SEARO), New Delhi, in 2012.

Prof. Ali and the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh have been actively engaged in the activities of the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), Geneva, since inception of WHA in 2007.

In recognition of his global efforts toward hepatitis elimination, the WHA honored him as a “Nohep Visionary” in 2018.

Achievements

Prof. Ali is a signatory to the World Health Assembly Resolution on Viral Hepatitis at the 63rd World Health Assembly in 2010 as a member of the Public Health Panel of the World Hepatitis Alliance. This landmark resolution contributed to the global recognition of World Hepatitis Day on July 28.

Prof. Ali headed the study “High Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infections among Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Growing Concern for the Refugees and the Host Communities”, published in Clinical Liver Disease (CLD), the journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), in January 2022. This study played a significant role in drawing global attention to the high prevalence of Hepatitis C among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Awards

• • He received the “Hepatitis Elimination Champion Award 2021” from the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE), USA. CGHE recognized his contributions to founding the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh and initiating liver transplantation in Bangladesh. The Coalition further acknowledged his remarkable contributions to policies and programs that have expanded access to hepatitis testing and treatment and accelerated progress toward hepatitis elimination in Bangladesh.
• • He received the Khan Bahadur Abu Naser Mohd Ahiya (Jitu Miah) Award in 2008 for outstanding contributions to healthcare in Bangladesh.

Author of a Book in Bangla for the Public & Professionals

He authored the Bangla book “লিভার: জানুন এবং ভালো থাকুন” (Liver: Know and Stay Well) in 2025, a comprehensive guide for the general public and healthcare professionals that addresses common liver diseases ranging from hepatitis to liver transplantation

Vision

Professor Mohammad Ali continues to work tirelessly toward a future free from viral hepatitis. His vision is to establish a center of excellence for Liver Diseases in Bangladesh—integrating clinical care, research, education, innovation, and public health advocacy under one unified platform.

Key Publications

• • Principal Author, Initiation of Liver Transplantation in Bangladesh: Report on the First Two Successful Cases - JHPN ICDDR, B (December, 2014) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4438700/ View Publication
• • Principal Author High Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infections among Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh : A Growing Concern for the Refugees and the Host Communities- Clinical Liver Diseases (CLD), Journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), (January, 2022) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cld.1197
• • Principal Author, Outcome of Whipple's procedure in 448 patients: 17 year experience in tertiary care hospitals of Bangladesh – IHPBA HPB (September, 2018) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328059153_Outcome_of_Whipple's_procedure_in_448_patients_17_year_experience_in_tertiary_care_hospitals_ of_Bangladesh
• • Principal Author, Solid pseudo papillary tumor of pancreas, diagnosis and management approaches of 39 patients - IHPBA HPB (March, 2021) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350378240_Solid_pseudo_papillary_tumor_of_pancreas_diagnosis_and_management_approaches_of_39_patients
• • Principal Author, Necrosectomy followed by closed cavity lavage for necrotising pancreatitis-report of three cases - BMRC Bulletin (December, 2001) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12197625/
• • Principal Author, Organ Transplantation in Bangladesh – Challenges and Opportunities. Editorial, Ibrahim Medical College Journal (January, 2012) https://profmohammadali.com.bd/public/medies/Aug_2023/1692860159.64e6feff089aa.pdf
• • Principal Author, Crowdsourcing to increase hepatitis B and C testing and reduce hepatitis stigma among medical students in Bangladesh - Journal of viral hepatitis (April, 2024) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jvh.13945
• • Co-author, Textbook- Chronic Allograft Failure, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, USA Editor of the chapter “Hepatic Allograft Loss” (July, 2008) https://profmohammadali.com.bd/public/medies/Aug_2023/1692860159.64e6feff01a38.pdf
• • Co-author, The impact of COVID 19 on hepatitis B and C virus prevention, diagnosis and treatment in Bangladesh compared with Japan and the global perspective - BMC Health Services Research (October, 2023) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-023-10138-x
• • Co-author, Redefining fatty liver disease: an international patient perspective - The Lancet (January, 2021) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33031758/
• • Co-author, The Role of Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations and People With Viral Hepatitis on the Path Toward Hepatitis C Virus Elimination - The Journal of Infectious Diseases (September, 2023) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37703339/