The Cairo Centre for Strategic Studies (CCSS) announced it has launched the Adel Mahmoud Science Forum as part of its programmes. Ahmed El-Maslemani, president of the CCSS, said “The forum aims to honour the name of one of our greatest scientists with international reputation, and looks forward to promoting scientific culture on viruses and biology, especially as the community's attention to biological issues mounts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “The forum, chaired by a prominent biologist, will be an arena for developing knowledge about health policy and biosecurity,” El-Maslemani added. Professor Adel Mahmoud (1941-2018), after whom forum is named, is a prominent scientist who contributed to revolutionising vaccines in modern times. The great scientist received widespread international attention and when he passed away in a New York hospital in June 2018, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates wrote in his memory, “The world has lost one of the greatest vaccine developers of our time, Dr Adel Mahmoud, who saved countless children's lives.” Born in Cairo in 1941, Mahmoud graduated from Cairo University's Medical School in 1963, following in the footsteps of his mother Fathia Osman, who attended the same college, but her family aborted her dream to become a doctor on the grounds that women at that time should not become doctors. He moved to the United States in 1973, where he later became head of the Department of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and in 2006 he became a professor at the prestigious Princeton University. Mahmoud is a pioneer in biomedical research and global health policy and has overseen the production and marketing of many vaccines that have made significant progress in public health.
