Paul Abrams is Honorary Professor of Urology at the University of Bristol, and he is a Consultant Urological Surgeon at the Bristol Urological Institute at North Bristol NHS Trust. He has also been Chair (2008-2017), of the International Consultation on Urological Diseases. Professor Abrams is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the field of lower urinary tract dysfunction.
Professor Abrams obtained his MB ChB from Sheffield University Medical School in Sheffield, UK. Between 1974 and 1982, Professor Abrams became Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, received his MD from Bristol University, and was accredited in Urology.
Professor Abrams is particularly interested in benign prostate disease, female and functional urology, neurourology and urodynamics. ResearchGate states that he has 700 research articles, has 62,500 citations and an “h-index” of 104, as well and numerous chapters in more than 30 academic books. Professor Abrams has written/edited more than 20 books, including a book on leadership with Dave Thornton, “Lead by VIP”. The third edition of his book, Urodynamics, was published in 2005. The fourth edition (2021) has been renamed “Abrams’ Urodynamics” and was edited by his colleagues Marcus Drake, Hashim Hashim and Andrew Gammie
He is responsible for the introduction of the term ‘lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)’, and with Alan Wein, the term ‘overactive bladder (OAB)’.
Professor Abrams has held leadership positions in several professional bodies, including General Secretary of the International Continence Society (ICS; 1985–2003), Chairman of the 1st– 6th International WHO International Consultations on Incontinence (6th ICI 2016), and was Secretary to the 7th ICI held in 2021. In addition, he was Chair of the Strategy Planning Office and a member of the Board of the European Association of Urology and was Chair of Courses and Consultations at the Societé International d’Urologie. He was Deputy Editor of Neurourology and Urodynamics (1995–2006) and is a member or expert reviewer for many leading urology journals. He also founded the ICS-UK (now UKCS) and most recently the ICI Research Society (2009) which will meet for the 11th time in 2024.
He has received a number of honours, including the Spence medal from the AAGUS, the St Peter’s medal from BAUS and the Willy Gregoir medal from the EAU, in addition to Lifetime Achievement Awards from the ICS and SUFU, and the SIU Distinguished Career Award.
He is currently the lead for the Bladder Workstream of NHS England’s National Bladder and Health Project, and Associate Director of BABCON (Bladder and Bowel CONfidence), a Health Integrated Team programme for Bristol Health Partners,
Bristol January 2024