History of Endoscopic Therapies to Treat VUR

In this episode, Dr. Prem Puri discusses how the advent of endoscopic therapy forever changed the treatment landscape for VUR in children.

Professor Prem Puri is the Newman Clinical Research Professor at the University College Dublin School of Medicine and Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at the Beacon Hospital.  He is currently the Secretary of the International Board of Pediatric Surgical Research. He is Past President of the World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS), and Past President of the European Pediatric Surgeons Association (EUPSA). He was the Editor-in-Chief of Pediatric Surgery International (2001-2021), and on the Editorial Board of several other journals. He was the Director of Research (1989-2009) and President (2009-2016) of the National Children’s Research Centre, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin, the single largest pediatric research institution in Ireland. 

Professor Puri is known internationally for his research into underlying mechanisms causing birth defects, and innovative treatments, which have benefited millions of children all over the world. His research on vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), the most common urological disorder in children has had a major worldwide impact on patient treatment, through the development of a 15-minute day care endoscopic procedure to replace a major open surgical procedure. As a direct result of his research, this endoscopic treatment has radically altered the management of VUR throughout the world. 

Professor Puri is one of the most cited pediatric surgical researchers in the world. His research work has been cited over 24,500 times in peer-reviewed articles with h-index of 77 and i10-index of 502. He has published 11 books and monographs, 147 chapters in textbooks and over 750 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including many in high impact factor journals, such as New Eng. J. Med, Lancet, British Medical Journal and Nature Genetics  

Between 1985 and 2019, Professor Puri trained 80 research fellows in basic science research at the National Children’s Research Centre in Dublin. All these research fellows were young pediatric surgeons/pediatric urologists from 18 countries, who spent 2-4 years in the laboratory. Many of them are now professors and heads of departments of pediatric surgery in various parts of the world.

He has been awarded many Honorary Fellowships, including the American Surgical Association (ASA), American Academy of Paediatrics, American Paediatric Surgical Association, Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons, Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons, and Argentinean, Austrian, Canadian, Czech, Croatian, Cuban, Indian, and South African pediatric surgical associations.

Professor Puri is a multi-award-winning researcher whose previous awards include People of the Year Award (Ireland), the prestigious Denis Browne Gold Medal by the British Association of Pediatric Surgeons, Rehbein Medal by the European Paediatric Surgeons Association, and Colles Medal by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, for outstanding contribution to pediatric surgery. He has been a visiting professor to many leading universities all over the world and invited speaker at over 250 international scientific meetings.