Dr. Iftikher Mahmood

Founder and President, Hope Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh

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Dr. Iftikher Mahmood was born and raised in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. He obtained his medical degree from Chittagong Medical College, University of Chittagong, in 1987. After a short period of service at a local children’s hospital in Bangladesh, Dr. Mahmood moved to the US for higher education. Subsequently, he completed his Pediatric Residency at Brooklyn Hospital, New York and obtained fellowship training in Pediatric Endocrinology from New York Hospital – Cornell University. In 1996 Dr. Mahmood settled in Florida and established a successful pediatric practice in Miami. 

In May 1999, Dr. Mahmood established Hope Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh as a charitable organization in the State of Florida, USA. The mission of HOPE Foundation is to provide healthcare to the poorest and economically marginalized mothers and children in Bangladesh.  

HOPE Foundation established several hospitals and birth centers in remote areas Cox’s Bazar district to take healthcare to the doorsteps of underserved communities. In 2012, Dr. Mahmood was one of the first to start midwifery school in the country which is training aspiring midwives till today.

In 2017, during the massive influx of Rohingya refugees to Cox’s Bazar, Hope Foundation mobilized huge resources to aid the refugees with healthcare. Under his leadership, Hope Foundation established several women’s health centers and a field hospital for women that focuses on emergency maternal care inside the refugee camps around the clock.

Dr. Mahmood established the pioneering program on obstetric fistula in Bangladesh which works across two divisions of the country, Chattagram and Barisal, spanning 17 districts. Under the programs several hundreds of fistula patients received reparative surgeries and rehabilitation. Hope fistula team networks with other organizations in the country who are working on fistula care to make Bangladesh fistula free by 2030

Dr. Mahmood is fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, he also holds faculty position in Tufts Medical School in Boston, USA

Dr. Mahmood aims to continue developing programs that reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Bangladesh to assist the Bangladesh in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals. 

He lives in Florida, USA with his wife and three children.

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AWARDS AND HONORS 

 

2019          'Lifetime Achievement Award' ASIAN FAIR-2019, Bangladesh Association of Florida, FL, USA
 

2019          ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ Bangladesh Medical Association of North America, CA Chapter, CA, USA

 

2023           Honorary Doctor of Science,  University of Nebraska 

 

2023          Jojo International Iconic Star Award-Malaysia 2023' Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

2023          Dr. Allan Rosenfield Award, by the Fistula Foundation