RCSI has awarded the inaugural Professor Sean Tierney Training Fellowship Grant to Zambian neurosurgeon Dr Peter Mushenya.

The Fellowship Award is named in memory of Professor Sean Tierney. Professor Tierney played a foundational role in the long-standing collaboration between the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) and RCSI.

The collaboration has grown to be the largest single contributor to the surgical workforce in the east, central and southern African region. 910 COSECSA fellows by examination have graduated as of December 2023.

Dr Peter Mushenya is one of the first three COSECSA-trained neurosurgeons in Zambia. With this grant, Dr Mushenya will undertake a fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, from August 2025.

The Professor Sean Tierney Training Fellowship Grant is an award intended to promote the acquisition of additional surgical skills and knowledge that will contribute to the advancement of surgical science and practice in the east, central and southern African region. 

Congratulating Dr Mushenya on his award, RCSI President Professor Deborah McNamara said: “We are proud to make this award to Dr Mushenya in the memory of Professor Sean Tierney, who made an incredible impact on the surgical workforce in Africa. The Fellowship Grant allows us to further sustain his legacy by increasing the specialist knowledge and skills of the surgeons who are providing vital surgical care in underserved communities in the east, central and southern African region.

“We wish Dr Mushenya every success and we look forward to seeing his progress during his Fellowship and beyond.”

Funded by RCSI, the grant is awarded to one surgeon each year. The successful candidate is awarded a grant amount of €12,000 to undertake a one-year post-qualification fellowship, after successfully attaining the COSECSA Fellowship of the College of Surgeons (FCS) qualification.