care and protection from venereal diseases to sex workers in Tehran's notorious Shahre Now red-light district, against significant religious and cultural opposition. During his tenure as Director General of Laboratories he successfully pushed for the establishment of more than 400 medical laboratories in Iran's most impoverished and remote regions. His crowning success was the establishment of Iran's National Reference Laboratories as a center for epidemiology and national standard setting. The Reference Laboratories significantly modernized Iran's public health system and were recognized internationally as a model for maintaining rigorous scientific principles in difficult ground conditions. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi retired from government office in 1978 but continued working in the field of public health. After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi increasingly focused on passing on his experience and knowledge as an academic, writer, and health consultant. He was appointed a member of the Physicians' Reeducation Committee in 1990 and in the same year assumed his position as Professor of Laboratory Sciences at Iran's prestigious Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. In 1991, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was among the founders of Iran's National Institute for Tuberculosis, which is recognized as a regional leader in research and education on pulmonary diseases. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was very active in philanthropic work. After the 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake, which resulted in the death of some 40,000 people and the displacement of half a million people from affected areas of Gilan province, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi gathered a group of friends who helped rebuild homes and schools, and provided life-time assistance to some 150 people, including full assistance to more than 40 children to attend university. He was also instrumental in establishing the Zirakzadeh Science Foundation, in honor of Ahmad Zirakzadeh, which was dedicated to providing science education to underprivileged children. Academic and Historical Writing Among Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi's works are: Bacteriology of Tuberculosis (1973) A Short History of Robert Koch (1984) History of Tuberculosis (1984) Management of Medical Laboratories (1986) Biology and Bacteriology of Mycobacteria (1986) Principles of Tuberculosis (with Velayati, Masjedi, Tabatabaii) (1995) Clinical Study of Tuberculosis (with Velayati, Masjedi, Tabatabaii) (1995) Nobel Prize Winners in Physiology or Medicine (now in its third printing) (2000) Biosafety Guidelines for Health Care Workers against Viral Hepatitis and AIDS (2001) Unanswered Questions in Extraordinary Years (Autobiography of Ahmad Zirakzadeh) (editor with Khosro Sa'idi) (1997) The Students' Organization of Tehran University (2003) Biography of Hassan Zia Zarifi (2004) The Story of Life (2006) How