Prof Sohel Reza Choudhury

I am appointed as a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh. My research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular disease.
After graduating with an MBBS in 1988 from Dhaka Medical College, I pursued further studies at Shiga University of Medical Science, Japan, where I worked as a graduate student and later as a postdoctoral researcher from 1991 to 1999. During this period, I was involved in research studies exploring the relationships between nutritional and other risk factors and cardiovascular diseases in the Japanese population.
After joining the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute in 2004, I focused on generating epidemiological data on CVD and its risk factors in the Bangladeshi population. I conducted several population-based cross-sectional studies and worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office for Bangladesh as a National Professional Officer from 2007 to 2010. In this role, I coordinated the implementation of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA.
Currently, as the Program Director of the Bangladesh Hypertension Control Initiative (BHCI)—a joint initiative of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Resolve to Save Lives, USA—I lead a team of researchers and program managers providing technical support to strengthen hypertension management at the primary care level by implementing the WHO HEARTS package. Several implementation research projects, including clinical trials in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and Resolve to Save Lives, have been conducted, with published results contributing to the effective implementation of hypertension control programs at the primary care level.
As Co-PI of the BELIEVE study, I am leading a cohort study of over 60,000 urban individuals to investigate emerging risk factors, including genetic factors, for CVD in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UK.
I have a strong interest in teaching epidemiology and public health and currently teach clinical epidemiology and research methodology to postgraduate students at our institute and other public health institutions. As General Secretary of the Hypertension Committee of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, I coordinate hypertension screening and awareness activities, including initiatives to reduce salt intake for hypertension prevention and control. I was awarded the Norm Campbell Award for Population Blood Pressure Control by the World Hypertension League in 2023 and the WHO SEARO Regional Director’s Special Recognition Award for World No Tobacco Day in 2021.
I actively serve on various national committees focused on tobacco control, trans fatty acid reduction, and NCD prevention. Additionally, I am a member of the South-East Asia Regional Expert Group on NCDs (REG NCD) of WHO SEARO.