Professor Asghar Aghamohammadi (1951-2020)

Abstract

Professor Asghar Aghamohammadi, the founder of the Immunology and Genetics Journal, passed away on November 14th, 2020, at the age of 69. We were terribly shocked by his death due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), while he had been working continuously and actively until late October, before his admission to the hospital because of an infection by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Professor Aghamohammadi was born in 1951 in Khouzestan Province, Iran. After completing his primary education in Ahvaz, he studied medicine in Mashad University of Medical Sciences and Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. After graduating in 1978, he joined the Red Crescent Organization in Iran. Afterwards, he continued his education in pediatrics in 1984, followed by a fellowship in clinical immunology and allergy in 1988. Consequently, he became the faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, where he dedicated all his life researching on the Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PIDs), by making the infrastructure for increasing the general awareness about PIDs, conducting fundamental research on PIDs, and facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of patients with PIDs. Professor Aghamohammadi established the “Iranian Association for PID Patients Support”, the “Iranian Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases Registry (IPIDR)”, “Research Center for Immunodeficiencies”, “Iranian PID Network”, and the “Immunology and Genetics Journal”. His international collaborations and hard works, along with his honesty, are some of his landmarks, which made him one of the world’s scientists top 1%. This is what the young generation should learn from him. The international PIDs communities, including the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID), the Clinical Immunology Society (CIS), the International Patient Organization for Primary Immunodeficiencies (IPOPI), the Jeffrey Modell Foundation (JMF), and the J Project respect him a lot and cannot forget his amazing efforts in the field of PIDs for all these years. We all at the Research Center for Immunodeficiencies (RCID) and the Immunology and Genetics Journal (IGJ), are still in shock and cannot imagine continuing without him. We will not forget that the father of the PIDs in Iran was a remarkable scientist. He will remain in the minds and hearts of all those who were close to him. May his name be always remembered with respect and love.