Prof. Syed Atiqul HAQ (Bangladesh)

Dr. SA Haq, Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Chairman, Department of Medicine, BSM Medical University (BSMMU), was born on 21 September 1955. He graduated in the year 1980. He took MD in Internal Medicine from the Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria and Fellowship of Bangladesh College of physicians and Surgeons in 1988. In 1990, he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Medicine in a peripheral medical college in Bangladesh. In 1991, he was appointed in the same post in the Institute of Postgraduate Medicine and Research (IPGMR). He established the Rheumatology Clinic in IPGMR, the first service and training center in Rheumatology in the country in October 1991. He was promoted to the post of associate professor in September, 1993. He took formal training in Rheumatology in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore in 1997. He founded the Bangladesh Rheumatology Society in 1997. The activities of the Society and the Rheumatology Clinic in IPGMR led to remarkable changes in the Rheumatology training, services and research in the country. In April 1998, the IPGMR was upgraded to a university (BSMMU). In 1999, a Rheumatology Wing was created in the Department of Medicine, BSMMU and Dr. Haq was given the charge of the Wing. In June 2000, as Chief Investigator, he founded the COPCORD Study Group in Bangladesh. Under his leadership, the group has completed stage I COPCORD study and is carrying out stage II activities. He was conferred Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) in July 2001. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 2003, of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan in 2004 and International Fellowship of the American College of Rheumatology in 2005. Dr. Haq’s areas of academic interest include Epidemiology of rheumatic disorders, low back pain, knee OA and fibromyalgia. He has 125 publications in local and international journals out of which 70 are originals. He was awarded a Gold Medal by “Bangladesh Academy of Sciences” for contribution to the advancement of Science in the country. Currently Dr. Haq is holding the positions of APLAR-COPCORD Coordinator, Chairman, General Secretary, Bangladesh Rheumatology Society, Chief Investigator, COPCORD (Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Disorders) Study Group, Bangladesh, Associate Editor, International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases and Vice President, Association of Physicians of Bangladesh.