John Francis Mayer was president of the ISPD between 1983 ad 1987, and a great contributor to the advance of haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. He directed several Nephrology divisions in universities such as the University of Missouri, the University of Connecticut, or the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. His contribution to books and publications, and his education dedication and skills led to his work being recognised in different countries during his life. After his sudden death in 1990 the ISPD decided to recognise his legacy with the John Maher award, honouring young individuals who have contributed substantially to the field of peritoneal dialysis. Candidates must be younger than 45 years old and have demonstrated expertise in either the scientific, medical or nursing aspects of PD.

Dr Adrian Liew is the recipient of the 2020 ISPD Congress John Maher Award. His list of merits is explained below, in words of Dr Mayoor Prabhu.

Dr Liew is a Senior Consultant Nephrologist and Associate Professor of Medicine with the LKC School of Medicine at the Nanyang Technological University-Imperial College London in Singapore. Dr Liew has made far reaching contributions to PD, especially in the South East Asian Region. He was the founding Chief of Nephrology of the Department of Renal Medicine at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore and is the program director for the Chronic Peritoneal Dialysis program, and during his 

tenure as Chief of Nephrology, had developed various subspecialty programs in the department. It is notable that he had spearheaded several national programs in Singapore including the peritoneal dialysis preferred initiative and the national HALT-CKD program.

Dr Liew’s contribution towards the growth and promotion of PD in South East Asia is laudable, especially since this region is mainly a resource limited region grappling with an increasing CKD burden. He has brought together committed nephrologists from each member country of ASEAN in early 2017 to form the ASEAN PD Network which he continues to chair. Under his leadership, the 8 countries have developed the study design and concept for the PROMiSE Study (PD pRactices and Outcomes in Multiple SouthEast Asian Countries), a PD registry of incident PD patients in all 8 countries of Southeast Asia with the aim of reviewing differences in PD care and improving PD outcomes in the region. As part of the collaboration between ISN and the Indonesian Society of Nephrology (PERNEFRI), Dr Liew has helped develop the blueprint for expanding the utilization of peritoneal dialysis in Indonesia. He also is actively assisting units in Myanmar, Brunei, and the Philippines in improving outcomes and increasing utilization of PD. In addition, he has been heavily involved in the training of nephrologists to perform peritoneal dialysis catheter insertion in several Southeast Asian countries. Dr Liew is also an elected Executive and Secretary of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) and is the Co-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the ISPD Congress 2022 in Singapore.

This impressive PD curriculum, together with other contributions in other fields of nephrology, makes Dr Adrian Liew a worthy recipient of the John Maher Award, just like the illustrious predecessors who were bestowed this honour:

• 2018    Jie Dong (ISPD Congress Vancouver, Canada)
• 2016    Jeffrey Perl (ISPD Congress Melbourne, Australia)
• 2014    Karen Yeates (ISPD Congress Madrid, Spain)
• 2012    CC Szeto (ISPD Congress Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
• 2010    Qiang Yao (ISPD Congress Mexico City, Mexico)
• 2008    Roberto Pecoits Filho (ISPD Congress Istanbul, Turkey)
• 2006    Angela Yee-Moon Wang and Rajnish Mehrothra  (ISPD Congress Hong Kong, China)
• 2004    Ann De Vriese  (ISPD Congress Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• 2001    Tao Wang (ISPD Congress  Montréal, Canada)
• 1998    Nicholas Topley (ISPD Congress – Seoul, Korea)
• 1995    Andrzej Breborowicz and Barbara Prowant (ISPD Congress – Stockholm, Sweden)

Dr Adrian Liew, as winner of the John Maher award 2020, will give a presentation at the opening plenary of the ISPD-EuroPD 2020 Congress in Glasgow next May. The title of this session will be: Peritoneal Dialysis in Southeast Asia – The Start of a PROMiSE

Have you registered for the ISPD-EuroPD Joint Congress next May 1-5 in Glasgow (UK) yet? Register here.