Professor James N’Dow, Professor of Urological Surgery, Chair in Urological Surgery, Director of the Academic Urology Unit and co-founder of UCAN the urological cancer charity, has become an OBE for his services to advancement of the profession of urology, his related cancer research and for his voluntary clinical and academic work.
Professor N’Dow, who was also awarded the St Peter’s Medal in July by the British Association of Urological Surgeons for ‘notable contribution to the advancement of urology’ said: “I was genuinely shocked and incredibly humbled at being recognised in this way and while the OBE may be in my name, I never work on my own. I am simply representing fantastic groups of colleagues who work tirelessly and have sacrificed so much to walk with us towards a shared purpose. The trust and friendship of colleagues I work closely with in the University of Aberdeen, NHS Grampian, across Europe, the European Association of Urology, colleagues in The Gambia and globally has been invaluable. Receiving an OBE is about family because they sacrifice the most for journeys like mine.”
“This award and indeed the UCAN Centre is here thanks to the local businesses, industry leaders and our citizens of Grampian who have supported our urology cancer services via the UCAN charity. We are about to embark on a new phase of the centre which will include establishment of a best-practice international standard one-stop urological cancer rapid diagnostic centre co-located with the acute urology services and will double the capacity of current Urological Cancer Diagnostic service; significantly shorten time to a cancer diagnosis (and therefore treatment), or being given the “all clear”; diagnose many more patients in early stages of cancer when they will benefit from curative treatment; and, be an example to other NHS cancer services of what can be achieved when a service partners with patients, their families, business community and ordinary citizens to make a positive change.
James N'Dow OBE
"Once again, the support from our community is much needed for us to progress our world-class service here in Aberdeen. The next UCAN campaign will therefore be launched on April 26, 2024 to raise £2.5M to deliver the one-stop urological cancer rapid diagnostic centre co-located with the acute urology services.
"Like in previous UCAN campaigns, we will be depending on the generosity of the citizens of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, especially the business community, to stand with us in our quest of transforming the urological cancer diagnostic pathway experiences of patients and their families".
An Aberdeen graduate, Professor N’Dow joined the University as a medical student in 1985 on a British Council scholarship from The Gambia. After graduating and completing basic surgical training in Aberdeen, he moved to Newcastle to do his urological surgery and research training and then returned to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the University in 2001.
Over the last 22 years Professor N’Dow has strived to establish Aberdeen as an internationally recognised centre of excellence for urological research and securing research grants and philanthropic (cash and in-kind) contributions worth more than £60 million and publishing studies in high impact science journals.
Professor N’Dow has also significantly contributed to raising the standard of care provided to patients and their families in the north of Scotland, leading major fundraising campaigns for UCAN – one of which led to Scotland’s first successful robotic surgery programme as well as one that funded a cancer centre staffed by cancer specialist nurses to support patients and their families affected by urological cancers in the North of Scotland.
As well as holding various board appointments, Professor N’Dow has never forgotten his roots – he originally intended returning to The Gambia. For more than two decades he has travelled every year initially with a team of surgeons and nurses to volunteer his services in the only teaching hospital in The Gambia, helping implement education and training programmes in gastroenterology, and more recently switched his focus to helping improve maternal and infant health programmes by supporting six public childbirth facilities in The Gambia together with international partners including Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.