Professor Raj Persad
Raj Persad, appointed in 1996, is a Senior Consultant Urological Surgeon in Bristol, Lead Clinician for Urology at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust), Consultant Urologist at Southmead Hospital & Bristol UROLOGICAL Inst. (North Bristol NHS Trust) and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Bristol. He is also Honorary Professor of Medicine at Pittsburgh University, USA, and Chair of the Network Urology Site-Specific Group at Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Service. In his clinical role, he is one of the most experienced pelvic cancer surgeons in the UK. He has subspecialised over many years in precise surgical techniques which improve both oncologic and functional outcomes and is now using techniques such as the Da Vinci Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy.
Academically, Prof Persad is involved in an extensive range of research with the Universities of Bristol, Pittsburgh, London and Oxford. These include the detection of early bladder and prostate cancer and novel imaging and treatment strategies for these diseases. He leads a team of researchers engaged in improving strategies for treatment of advanced prostate cancer in areas of hormonal treatment and immunotherapy. He is Principal Investigator, Chief Investigator, and Collaborator in many National and International studies sponsored by the MRC, EORTC, CRUK, and NCRN.
He is a member of the CRUK National Clinical Trials Advisory Committee and formerly Honorary Secretary of the Section of Oncology at the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS). He is a member of the NHS Improvement survivorship program in prostate cancer and a member of the national cancer intelligence site specific reference group for Urological malignancies. He is formerly a Tutor in Surgical Skills at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Executive Member of the British Prostate Group and member of the Genito-urinary Group of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). He has been a successful recipient of in excess of £4.5m research grants from UK bodies as well as the NIH USA, and has published over 250 scientific articles and 5 books.
Together with Scientists and Clinicians in Bristol he is part of the productive BPCRN (Bristol prostate cancer research network), which has a number of far-reaching clinical and scientific goals in the field of urological cancer. He is also the Principle Investigator for the INDEX trial of focal therapy to the prostate in Bristol (INDEX Trial Newsletter).
In addition to his University and NHS Clinical commitments, he spends time visiting hospital units in the developing world, where he helps to train junior doctors and other healthcare professionals.