Dr. Abolghasem Bahrami (1894–1950): Physician, Pasteurian, and a Pioneer of Microbiology and Public Health Planning in Iran

Abstract

Dr. Abolghasem Bahrami was among the generation of Iranian scientists in the early twentieth century who gained most of their knowledge through resources available inside the country. Educated at Dar-ul-Funun Medical School, he was a physician with a great talent in learning, especially self-teaching natural sciences and European languages. He joined the Pasteur Institute of Iran (IPI) at the early days of its foundation and became an integral contributor to this institution during the first twenty-five years of its mission. One of his first assignments at IPI was to help initiating an anti-rabies department by bringing back the rabies vaccine and its manufacturing equipment from Institut Pasteur of Paris. During his IPI years, aside from managerial tasks, he actively participated in upgrading the medical treatments and protocols used for controlling many infectious diseases. He functioned twice as the provisional director of IPI (1925-1926 and 1937-1946) and is considered as the first Iranian director of the Institute. Meanwhile, Dr. Bahrami was a significant contributor to the public health system and assumed several responsibilities such as Chief Quarantine Medical Officer, Chief of Public Health, and the Head of Public Health Administration, in order to improve public health planning throughout the country.