Biography

Mahdi Balali-Mood was awarded BSc 1st class Hon of chemistry in 1963 and then MD in 1970 from Tehran University. After his medical military service and training in internal medicine/clinical toxicology, he was appointed as an assistant professor in clinical toxicology and head of his newly established Poisoning Treatment Center (PTC) of Mashhad University in 1974. Mahdi was awarded a scholarship from the Ministry of Science of Iran and did his PhD in Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology at Edinburgh University Medical School in 1978–1981. He was then working as a lecturer in this department until winter 1982, when decided to return to Mashhad to advance his established PTC, as the chemical war gas attack of Iraqi army against Iranian troops was his main concern. Mahdi was promoted to associate professor and full professor of Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Mashhad University Medical Sciences (MUMS) in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He has served as a Clinical Toxicology Adviser to the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), 1989 to date. He has also been a member of the IPCS Programme Advisory Committee since 2000. Prof. Balali-Mood was a founding member and the fi rst President of Iranian Society of Toxicology and was also elected twice as the President of Irantox between viii 1989 and 2001. He has been a member of the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences since its establishment in 1990. Mahdi with collaboration of the other internationally recognized medical toxicologists founded the Asia-Pacifi c Association of Medical Toxicology (1989) and served as the fi rst Vice-President and then as the President for 8 years (1994–2001). He was elected as a Permanent Member of the Academy of Sciences for Developing World (TWAS) in 1997. He was a member of Scientifi c Advisory Board of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) 2004–2011. His other achievements include co-founder and Director, Medical Toxicology Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 1988 to date; Editor-in-Chief, Scientifi c Journal of Birjand University of Medical Sciences , 2002 to date; and Associate Editor and editorial board member of many national and international medical journals. His research areas are Clinical Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents, Organophosphorous Pesticide Poisonings, Heavy Metals, Drug Abuse/Overdosage, Epidemiology of Poisonings, Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, and Natural Toxins including snake and spider bites. Prof. Balali-Mood was awarded several national and international prizes on Teaching, Research, and Medical Care including the prizes in medical care of chemical war veterans and research from the Presidents of IR Iran in 2003 and 2011, respectively. He supervised more than100 theses for MSc, PhD, PharmD, MD, and specialities in clinical medicine, mostly on CWA. Mahdi is the author/editor of 29 books/monographs/chapters and 147 articles and 289 short papers and abstracts. His recent books on Basic and Clinical Toxicology of Organophosphorus Compounds and on Biological Toxins and Bioterrorism were published by Springer in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

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Research Interest

Clinical toxicology,Medical Toxicology