Past Presidents

VASBI President 2019 - 2022:  Mr James Gilbert, Consultant Transplant & Vascular Access Surgeon, Churchill Hospital, Old Rd, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LE Tel:  0300 304 7777 Email: [email protected]

James is currently working as a Consultant Transplant and Vascular Access Surgeon at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is a specialist in kidney and and pancreas transplantation and vascular access surgery and has particular interest and expertise in complex and re-do and salvage access surgery and access in patients with central vein pathology.

James currently leads the dialysis access and pancreas transplant programmes. He inserted Europe's first HeRO graft in 2013 and currently has the biggest European experience of HeRO graft usage in central vein stenosis. He has also developed a vascular access programme for patients with intestinal failure. James is an educationalist and has a Masters in Education. He is involved with undergraduate and postgraduate training and has been responsible for the development of surgical educational supervisors across Health Education Thames Valley. He is one of the Trust's leads for education and has just been appointed the Training Programme Director for Core Surgery in HETV. When not frantically working he enjoys cooking, triathlons, armchair sporting punditry and spending time with his wife and two children.

VASBI President 2017 - 2019: Mr Paul Gibbs, Consultant Vascular and Transplant Surgeon, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Southwick Hill Rd, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3LY Tel: 023 9228 6400 Email: [email protected] 

Paul Gibbs qualified at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in 1992. He did his higher surgical training in both vascular surgery and renal transplantation in the Wessex region from 1997 to 2004. This included an MD in renal transplant immunology. Paul has worked in renal transplant units in Cardiff, Oxford and Portsmouth before being appointed as a vascular and renal transplant surgeon in Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust in February 2005, where he is clincal director of the transplant programme. He has always had a keen interest in vascular access and leads on this in his own trust.

VASBI Presdient 2015 - 2017: Dr Sarah Lawman, is a consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton and is the current president of VASBI. Apart from her interest in vascular access and dialysis, she also specialises in autoimmuneglomerulonephritis. She is currently clinical lead of her department.

VASBI Presdient 2013 - 2015: Mr Nick Inston PhD FRCS is a renal transplant and vascular access surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. He is current president of the Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) and a member of the European Best practice guidelines group for vascular access. He has lectured on vascular access at international meetings and has interests in both clinical and basic science research.

VASBI President 2011 - 2013: Dr Steven Powell FRCR MBA was a consultant interventional radiologist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. He left clinical practice in 2015 to pursue a career in healthcare management and is currently leading a medical diagnostic business that aims to address the shortfall in diagnostic capacity in the UK. As a founder member of VASBI and former president, Steve has lectured on interventional techniques and surveillance of vascular access at international meetings and was a member of the European Best practice guidelines group for vascular access. 

Founding President: Mr Ali Bakran FRCS. A transplant surgeon in Liverpool, Ali touched the lives of thousands of patients with chronic kidney disease and was a prominent figure in the field of vascular access. Tragically, Ali died shortly before VASBI’s inaugural meeting. He is sadly missed.