André van der Merwe is a South African

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

. He is currently head of

urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

and an associate professor at

Tygerberg Hospital Tygerberg Hospital is a tertiary public hospital located in Parow. The hospital was officially opened in 1976 and is the largest district general hospital in the Western Cape and the second largest hospital in South Africa, with the capacity fo ...

. He is best known for conducting the world's first successful penis transplant in 2014. He also performed the first

laparoscopic Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or human pelvis, pelvis using small Surgical incision, incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few ...

kidney removal in South Africa.

Life

Van der Merwe grew up in the town of

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

province of South Africa. His childhood dream was to become an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. He is a fan of singer

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Qualifications

As of 2014, Van der Merwe held the following qualifications: Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) of England, MRCS of Edinburgh, Fellowship of the College of Urologists of South Africa, a

Master of Medicine Master of Medicine (MMed, MM) is a postgraduate professional clinical degree awarded by medical schools to physicians following a period of instruction, supervised clinical rotations, and examination. As of May 2009, the following universities ...

in Urology, and a Master of Clinical

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

Career

Apart from his positions at the University of Stellenbosch and the Tygerberg Hospital, Van der Merwe is a National Deputy Delegate for South Africa with the Société Internationale d'Urologie. As a urologist, Van der Merwe regularly performs

kidney transplants Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

. In 2008, he performed the first laparoscopic removal of kidney in South Africa. The kidney was removed from a living donor to be donated to her sister. The duration of the surgery was four hours in total, which is longer than a traditional kidney removal. Van der Merwe said that the longer surgery time was offset by the much quicker patient recovery time. Van der Merwe said that the new method of organ removal could attract up to 40% more donors than there were at the time.

Penis transplant

On 11 December 2014, Van der Merwe led a team of surgeons through a nine-hour surgery at the Tygerberg Hospital, in order to surgically attach a penis from a deceased donor to an anonymous patient, who had to have his penis amputated after a ceremonial circumcision went wrong two years prior to the surgery (three years prior to the announcement of the surgery). The surgery was announced by the University of Stellenbosch's faculty of medicine and health sciences on 13 March 2015. Van der Merwe predicted the transplanted penis to be fully functional in two years' time. Van der Merwe was 46 years old when the surgery was announced. Following the surgery, some media outlets dubbed him "Dr. Dick".

Accolades

In 2008, Van der Merwe was awarded the Karl Storz Golden Cystoscope for the most outstanding young urologist in South Africa. In 2012, at the congress of the South African Urological Association, he received the

Sanofi-Aventis Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. The corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Synthélabo merg ...

award for urological excellence and outstanding service in furthering the practice of Urology in South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merwe, Andre South African physicians Urologists Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Afrikaner people Living people 1960s births Transplant surgeons Academic staff of Stellenbosch University Year of birth missing (living people)