Prof. Rezvi Sheriff brings honour to Sri Lanka

Professor Rezvi Sheriff, Director, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, Senior Professor of Medicine, University of Colombo and Consultant Physician and Nephrologist was voted in as a Councillor of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) at the World Congress of Nephrology in Brazil recently.

ISN is the most prestigious and apex international body of the leading kidney specialists in the world. He will be one of the 29 councillors voted in from over 100 countries to hold office from 2007-2013.

He will be representing along with an Indian nephrologist the interests of over two billion people in this region and oversee the COMGAN program for Global Advancement of Nephrology, which spends nearly 1 million US dollars annually on fellowships, educational meetings and uplifting renal services to populations.

Prof. Sheriff has been responsible for promoting ISN scholarships for about five Sri Lankans who have been trained in UK and Australia. He was the Founder President of the Sri Lanka Association of Nephrology & Transplantation (SLANT) and later the President of the SAARC Society of Nephrology, Urology and Transplant Surgeon.

He was Councillor of the Asia Pacific Society as well. Prof. Sheriff was the pioneer who led the first kidney transplant program for Sri Lanka, which has now done over 530 in a single centre and promoted local specialist training programs.

Prof. Sheriff is the Honorary Chairman of Western Infirmary, the leading and pioneering private centre for dialysis which is recognised by the ISN as the only partnering sister centre now with the University of Melbourne Dialysis Service in the prestigious Renal Sister Centre Program.

In addition to his job as educator, clinician and researcher he has been active in the professional advancement locally, regionally and now internationally. This is the first time a Sri Lankan has been voted in to a Council of a frontline Specialist Medical Association dominated by leading specialists from USA, UK, Europe and the Latin America.

Prof. Sheriff is working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health Consultants to complete to functionality of the National Nephrology, Dialysis & Transplant Institute (NNDTI) at Maligawatte which Sri Lanka could be proud of and he is greatly appreciative of the personal efforts of Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Health and the Ministry to make this a reality.