Mohamed Hamad Satti (, 1913 – 15 March 2005) was a Sudanese physician that is remembered as ''The father of Medical research in Sudan.'' He had a very philanthropic approach to medicine, and was known for being an entertaining educator who linked scientific information with stories from his fieldwork. Satti received the Shousha Prize from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, and the

Order of the Two Niles The Order of the Two Niles () is a state Orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan, decoration of Sudan established on 16 November 1961 during Ibrahim Abboud's Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969)#Abboud military government (1958–64), military g ...

. ''Dr'' ''Satti Foundation'' for medical research was created in his honour.

Life and career

Early life and education

Mohamed Hamad Satti was born in

Shendi Shendi or Shandi () is a small city in northern Sudan, situated on the southeastern bank of the Nile River 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroë. Located in the River Nile s ...

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

, in 1913. His father passed away when he was 15. He attended the elementary and intermediate schools in

Atbara Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan. Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the 'Railway City'. Atbara's population was recorded as 134,586 dur ...

, before joining

Gordon Memorial College Gordon Memorial College was an educational institution in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms. Named for General Charles George Gordon of the British army, who wa ...

(Secondary school) in 1927. He graduated with a Diploma of Kitchener School of Medicine (DKSM) (today’s

Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum The Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum (established 1924 as Kitchener School of Medicine), located in Khartoum, Sudan, is the oldest medical school in Sudan. It was opened in 1924 by Sir Lee Stack, Governor-General of Sudan and Sirdar (G ...

), in 1935. Satti 1952

Satti then started his medical training working as a medical officer in areas endemic to

Leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of Phlebotominae, phlebotomine Sandfly, sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' an ...

between 1936 and 1946 including Singa and Port-Sudan. He joined Stack Medical Research Laboratories in 1946, before moving to the United Kingdom and completing a postgraduate degree in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

(1952–1954) where he was also the President of the Sudanese Student Society in the UK. Once he was back in Sudan, he was appointed as a medical zoologist, where he started with a study on a

visceral leishmaniasis Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasi ...

outbreak in 1956, before going to the United States and completing a master's degree in Public Health at

Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university primarily based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded as the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene a ...

, Baltimore.

Career

Satti was elected a member of the

Advisory Panel of

parasitic diseases A parasitic disease, also known as parasitosis, is an infectious disease caused by parasites. Parasites are organisms which derive sustenance from its host while causing it harm. The study of parasites and parasitic diseases is known as parasitolog ...

(1962–1980). He also became the director of Stack Medical Research Laboratories (1963–1968), succeeding Mansour Ali Haseeb who left the position to become the first Sudanese Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum. Satti occupied several posts in the . He was an educator at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum (1946–1948, 1963–1969) and a researcher of

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

, medical zoology,

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

, forensic medicine, and pathology. He laid the foundation of several laboratories and

tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...

research centres in Sudan which include the National Health Laboratories, the Cancer Institute for Tropical Diseases Research, the Medical Research Council (1966), the School of Tropical Medicine (1966), the National Council for Research (1970), and the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology. He was the director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Research at the Medical Research Council, Sudan. Satti did not have a private clinic throughout his career. He was known for being an entertaining educator who linked scientific information with stories from his fieldwork. Satti had a very philanthropic approach to medicine as he once repurposed his private car as an ambulance. Once he retired in 1969, he became an advisor to the Sudanese Medical Research Association. He worked with WHO as a consultant epidemiologist and public health advisor to study the environmental effects of

Lake Nasser Lake Nasser ( ', ) is a large reservoir (water), reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It was created by the construction of the Aswan Dam, Aswan High Dam and is one of the List of reservoirs by volume, largest man-made lakes in the wo ...

in 1970. He was the Vice Chairman of the WHO

Onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

Expert Committee in 1986.

Personal life and death

Satti was married to Fatma Hassan el Nor and with her, they had thirteen children. He died from natural causes on 15 March 2005, and was buried in Faroug Cemetery, Khartoum.

Research

Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan and Mohamed Hamad Satti

Satti carried out extensive field and laboratory work on

leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of Phlebotominae, phlebotomine Sandfly, sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' an ...

in eastern and southern Sudan, yellow fever in the Nuba Mountains and

Kurmuk : Kurmuk () is a town in south-eastern Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. Kurmuk is inhabited by the Uduk and Berta peoples. Kurmuk is the administrative center for most of Gindi District, Kolnugura district, Borfa District, Jammus Omm Dist ...

Klumpke paralysis Klumpke's paralysis is a variety of partial palsy of the lower roots of the brachial plexus. p.1046 The brachial plexus is a network of spinal nerves that originates in the back of the neck, extends through the axilla (armpit), and gives rise to ne ...

and cutaneous larva migranes in

Kordofan Kordofan ( ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory divided between N ...

onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

Bahr el Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (, also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḥr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad * Bahr el-Ghazal (wadi in ...

, malaria in

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

, cholera and

Leptospirosis Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacterium ''Leptospira'' that can infect humans, dogs, rodents and many other wild and domesticated animals. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, Myalgia, muscle pains, a ...

Nuer people The Nuer people are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group concentrated in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. They also live in the Ethiopian region of Gambela Region, Gambella. The Nuer speak the Nuer language, which belongs to t ...

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical helminthiasis, disease caused by parasitism, parasitic Schistosoma, flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects ...

in Gezira, typhoid in Western Sudan,

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

on the

Beni Halba tribe The Beni Halba () is an Arab group located in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The Beni Halba is one of the major Darfuri Baggara groups, along with the Habbaniya, Rizeigat and Ta’isha, and was granted a large ''hakura'' (land grant) in ...

in Singa,

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

in Al Qadarif,

presbycusis Presbycusis (also spelled presbyacusis, from Greek πρέσβυς ''presbys'' "old" + ἄκουσις ''akousis'' "hearing"), or age-related hearing loss, is the cumulative effect of aging on hearing. It is a progressive and irreversible bilateral ...

in the Mabans tribe living southern Funj,

filariasis Filariasis is a filarial infection caused by parasitic nematodes (roundworms) spread by different vectors. They are included in the list of neglected tropical diseases. The most common type is lymphatic filariasis caused by three species o ...

Geneina Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah or ElGeneina; , lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit ...

, the adverse effects of the consumption of high-nitrate-well-water in two villages in

North Kordofan North Kordofan () is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 3,174,029 people (2018 est). El-Obeid is the capital of the state. North Kordofan is generally arid and desert. ...

, and health aspects of Rahad Irrigation Project. He presented his research at the first Italian Conference of Tropical Medicine in East Africa,

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

, in 1952, and the International Congress of Tropical Medicine and Malaria (1958–1986). He left a legacy of scientific excellence that earned him the name ''The father of Medical research in Sudan.''

Awards and honours

Satti received an

Honorary Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

in 1980 from the University of Khartoum. He received the Shousha Prize from the World Health Organization in 1985, and was awarded the

in 1989. In 2011, a foundation, ''Dr Satti Foundation for medical research,'' was established in his honour.

References

{{authority control University of Khartoum alumni Sudanese scientists 1913 births 2005 deaths Sudanese physicians Dr A.T. Shousha Foundation Prize and Fellowship laureates Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan Gordon Memorial College alumni