Dr. Rashid Chotani is an expert in a wide range of medical fields from epidemiology to biodefense, and says his late father, Dr. Abdulrehman Chotani, inspired him to help others. His father spent more than half his life in Karachi, Pakistan, helping the disenfranchised and encouraging his son to do the same. Together, the father and son team converted a 65 bed maternity hospital into a 250 bed full service hospital in 1991, which Rashid describes as a “dream job.”
Today, Rashid continues the tradition of service which his father set in place as the
Executive Director of the Muslim Community Center (MCC) Medical Clinic in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Rashid Chotani leads a team of 50 medical professionals, staff, and volunteers providing high-quality and low-cost comprehensive health care. As one of the largest faith-based medical centers of its kind in the country, the clinic serves people of all backgrounds regardless of faith or nationality, taking in a whopping 16,000 patients annually.
Besides the tremendous work he does at the clinic, Dr. Chotani has held such high profile positions as Director of Chemical and Biological Defense Programs at TASC, Inc.; Chief Scientist at the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense at the Department of Defense; and Director at the Global Infectious Disease Surveillance & Alert System (GIDSAS) at Johns Hopkins University (which is also his alma mater). The doctor recently received the prestigious 2016 NATO Scientific Achievement Award for his work on biological counterterrorism.
“Every time I saw an opportunity to help, I decided I had to,” comments Dr. Chotani. “It is something that makes me happy and I am fortunate to have a wife and family who always encouraged me.”
