Vidyajyothi Prof. Rezvi Sheriff no more

Tuesday, 31 March 2026 06:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Well known physician and nephrologist Vidyajyothi Prof. Rezvi Sheriff, FRCP, FRACP, FRCPE, FCCP, FNASSL, FSLCGP, passed away yesterday at the age of 77.

Prof Rezvi Sheriff contributed to the discipline of medicine, universities and the health care of Sri Lanka in numerous ways. He was a pioneer in the field of nephrology and transplantation in Sri Lanka, and was the chief proponent of the introduction of renal disease diagnosis and dialysis and kidney transplantation in the country. He was instrumental in performing the first ever kidney transplant in Sri Lanka in October 1985, and has performed over 1000 kidney transplants on patients from all over the world.

Prof Rezvi Sheriff has shared his vast knowledge in the field of nephrology with several generations of undergraduates and postgraduates over a career that spanned decades, while conducting trail blazing medical research. Most, if not all of the current nephrologists in the country have trained under him. He was a Senior Professor of Medicine and the Head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo, and retired in September 2014, after more than 40 years of service to the University of Colombo. He is currently a Senior Professor of medicine at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU).

Prof Rezvi Sheriff was awarded the title of ‘Vidyajyothi’, which is the highest national honour for science, for his outstanding contributions to the field of nephrology in Sri Lanka. He has spearheaded several projects to alleviate kidney disease in Sri Lanka and established various institutes such as the National Institute of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation of which he is the Founder Consultant Nephrologist.