Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Appoints Four New Members to Council

Upon her appointment as a new consultant, she established a breast microsurgery service within the department, a challenging but rewarding undertaking which has benefited the diverse local community served by the Trust.

Passionate about training the next generation of Surgeons, Stef hopes to use her leadership skills to raise awareness of the holistic needs of trainees, addressing important issues such as burnout and imposter syndrome, and the difficulties new parents face balancing training and returning from parental leave.

She has extensive educational and personal experience behind her, including her role as Educaitonal Co-Lead on the Surgical Specialty Board for Plastic Surgery, and completing the prestigious Future Leaders Programme through RCSEd. Her motto is "lead with vulnerability".

Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in clinical governance, quality improvement, research, and multidisciplinary collaboration to enhance patient care and surgical outcomes. Ahmed is passionate about supporting the professional development of surgeons at all stages of their careers, promoting excellence in surgical education, and strengthening international engagement within the surgical community. He is committed to upholding the values of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and contributing to its continued leadership in advancing surgical standards worldwide.

His clinical and research interests focus on minimal access surgical techniques and prostate disease, including pioneering work on the management of acute urinary retention and the development of novel diagnostic techniques for prostate cancer. Over the past two decades, he has specialised in minimally invasive surgery for prostate cancer and is one of the UK’s most experienced prostate cancer surgeons. He is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the BJUI and a Founding Trustee of Prostate Scotland. Awarded the BAUS Gold Medal in 2026, he remains committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and surgical training.

He is credited to have founded the National Foundation Trainees Surgical Societies (FTSS - 15 in the UK) and the National Core Trainee Forum (CTF - both providing platforms for aspiring surgeons to further their careers.

Mr Silva is Director of FTSS UK and was Council Member (2022-2023) and also Director of the RSA Network for the College (2018-2022). He is a Clinical Lecturer at Worcester College, Oxford University.

He was the Training Programme Director for HSTs (General Surgery) Oxford Deanery (2018-2023).

Mr Silva was a specialist advisor to NICE (2018-2021) and served on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Surgery (Open) (2015-2021) and Current Surgery Reports. He has in excess of 90 publications in peer reviewed journals and has written many book chapters.