Vidya Jyothi Mohamed Hussain Rezvi Sheriff (Sinhala: เถธเทเทเทเถธเถฉเท เทเทเทเทเถฑเท เถปเทเทเทเทเท เทเทเถปเทเทเท; 1948 or 1949 โ 30 March 2026) was a Sri Lankan academic, nephrologist and physician. He served as director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, senior professor of medicine, and head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
Rezvi Sheriff | |
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เถธเทเทเทเถธเถฉเท เถปเทเทเทเทเท เทเทเถปเทเทเท | |
| Born | 1948 or 1949 |
| Died | 30 March 2026 (agedย 77) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Education | |
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| Employer | University of Colombo |
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Sheriff was a senior professor of medicine at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University from 2018 until his retirement.[1] He was a consultant physician and nephrologist at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka,[2] and chairman of Western Hospital.[3]
Education
editSheriff began his formal education at Zahira College, Colombo, and later received a scholarship for Royal College Colombo.[4][5] He subsequently enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine at Royal College Colombo, obtaining a Bachelor of Medicine, a Bachelor of Surgery, and a Doctor of Medicine. Sheriff was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Ceylon College of Physicians.[6]
Career
editSheriff began his academic career as a lecturer in medicine in the Department of Medicine under Professor Kumaradasa Rajasuriya in 1973. He obtained his MRCP after completing his postgraduate training in the UK and returned to Sri Lanka. His academic career in the Sri Lankan university system spanned several decades.[7] He worked with A. H. Sheriffdeen to establish the first transplant programme in Sri Lanka in October 1985. With the support of the Colombo University team, they performed the first kidney transplant in the country.[8] Alongside Surendra Ramachandran, Sheriff contributed to the development of nephrology as a specialty in Sri Lanka. He became Professor of Medicine in 1990, and Senior Professor of Medicine in 1998.[7] By 2015, nearly 1,000 transplants had been conducted under his oversight.[9]
Sheriff was a senior advisory board member to SACTRC (South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration)[10] with Nimal Senanayake, Ravindra Fernando and Janaka de Silva. He founded the University of Oxford Colombo for studies on snake bites and yellow oleander poisoning. He served as the president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, Ceylon College of Physicians,[11] Sri Lanka Association for Nephrology and Transplantation, SAARC Society of Nephrology, Urology and Transplant Surgery and the founding president of the Hypertension Society in Sri Lanka in addition to being a founder of the Health Informatics Society in Sri Lanka[12] and a councillor of the International Society of Nephrology. Rezvi was an External Examiner for MRCP in UK & Chennai. He was the Ceylon College of Physicians Coordinator for MRCP Examinations in Sri Lanka. He was appointed the president of Sri Lanka Medical Association in 2009.[13]
Sheriff was also the founder and chairman of Western Infirmary Hospital in Colombo, a centre for renal disease care, dialysis, and transplantation.[9][14] In 2011, he was rated among Sri Lanka's most prolific scientists in terms of number of publications, according to the Web of Science database.[15] He published academic articles on nephrology, organ transplantation, snake bites and oleander poisoning.[16]
He retired from the University of Colombo on 30 September 2014, after rendering 41 years of service.[9]
Controversy
editIn 2019, Sheriff filed complaints with the Criminal Investigation Department over social media allegations that he treated Zahran Hashim, the prime suspect behind the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[17]
Personal life and death
editIn October 2022, Sheriff underwent a kidney transplant at the Western Infirmary/Western Hospital.[8] He died in Colombo on 30 March 2026, at the age of 77.[18]
Honours and awards
editSheriff was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the College of General Practitioners of Sri Lanka and a Fellow of the National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka.[6]
The honour Vidya Jyothi was conferred upon him by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1993 in recognition of his contribution to nephrology, dialysis and transplantation in Sri Lanka. He also received a Lion International Merit Award.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Medical Council Administering medical practitioners' oath". Daily Mirror. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Prof Rezvi Sheriff". Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "Western Hospital introduces Sri Lanka's most affordable dialysis solution Mercy dialysis and ties up with world number 1 Dialysis Company to provide world class dialysis on World Kidney Day 2021". Daily Mirror (Press release). Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ Farook, Ruzaik. "Founder's Day celebrations". Daily Mirror. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Zahira College holds Founders Day". Daily FT. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Fellows Directory โ R | S". National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 13 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Retirement of Senior Professor Rezvi Sheriff". The Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ a b "From kidney transplant pioneer to patient: Personal saga of Professor Rezvi Sheriff". The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka (Printย ed.). Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ a b c "Grand round, felicitation and academic sessions in honour of Prof. Rezvi Sheriff". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ "SACR Governance". South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "History". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ "Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka (HISSL)" (PDF). Hissl.org. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "Prof. Rezvi Sheriff on Sri Lanka's double burden of diseases". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "About Prof. Sheriff". Westernhospital.lk. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ "Prof Rezvi Sheriff, most prolific scientist". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Articles and Books by Prof Sheriff". Cmb.ac.lk. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "Prof. Rezvi Sheriff files action against allegation". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Renowned Nephrologist Prof. Rezvi Sheriff, Passes Away at 77". Lanka Sara. 31 March 2026. Archived from the original on 31 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- ^ "Vidyajyothi Professor Mohamed Hussain Rezvi Sheriff MBBS, MD, MRCP (UK), FRCP (Lon), FRCP (Edin), FRACP, FCCP, FSLCGP". Cmb.ac.lk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
External links
edit- Rezvi Sheriff publications indexed by Google Scholar
