Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati is the Director of the National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD) at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. He is a Full Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and he has guided more than 300 MD and PhD students. He is also the Head of Mycobacteriology Research Center (MRC) in NRITLD, where he directly monitors the basic and clinical trial on tuberculosis. Dr. Velayati is the President of the Asian African Society of Mycobacteriology and of the Society of Biomedical and Biotechnology Scientists. He is the Chief Editor of the International Journal of Mycobacteriology, the Journal of Preventive, Diagnostic and Treatment Strategies in Medicine, and the Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Journal.