Professor of Head and Neck Surgery
Liverpool CR-UK Centre
School of Cancer Studies
5th Floor UCD
Daulby Street
Liverpool L69 3GA
Tel: 0151 706 4170
Fax: 0151 7065798
Mob: 07702 816 180
Web: www.liv.ac.uk/cancerstudies
Honorary Consultant Otolaryngologist / Head and Neck Surgeon
Aintree University Hospitals NHS Trust
Lower Lane
Liverpool
L9 7AL
Tel: 0151 529 5248
Fax: 0151 529 5263
I completed my undergraduate education at the University of London, completing a BSc (Hons) degree in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Queen Mary College before studying medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, graduating in 1993. Following house jobs, I moved to Liverpool where I completed my surgical training in Otorhinolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery (ORL-HNS), during which time I developed a sub-specialist interest in Head and Neck surgical oncology.
I was appointed to an NHS consultant post at University Hospital Aintree (UHA) in November 2003, switching to a Clinical Senior Lecturer post at the University of Liverpool in November 2006 and securing promotion to a Readership in March 2010. I am a co-founder of the Mersey Head and Neck Oncology Research Group (MHNORG), the Mersey Deanery Chair of STEC for ORL-HNS; a member of the National Cancer Research Institute (H&N) Clinical Studies Group and the Surgery and Local treatments sub-committee; a reviewer for the NIHR HTA Research Programme and the UICC International Cancer Fellowships; the ORL-HNS representative on the Foreign and Commonwealth Pro Bono Medical Panel and an editor for the Cochrane ENT Disorders Group and I am the ENT.UK representative on a NICE committee which has the remit to develop national policy on the use of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Head and Neck cancer patients.
My main clinical interests relate to function-sparing cancer surgery. In particular, the use of transoral laser techniques to remove cancers of the larynx (voice-box), oropharynx and hypopharynx (throat), thereby leaving patients with better speech and swallowing function after surgery. I have developed the largest transoral laser surgery practice for the removal of head and neck cancers in the UK. Each January I run a live-surgery course at UHA designed to train young surgeons and other consultants in these techniques. My research interests can be divided into 3 main themes
1. Basic/translational research: Much of this research is conducted in collaboration with Dr Mark Boyd, Reader in Molecular Oncology (www.liv.ac.uk/cancerstudies). However, we also collaborate with Professor Philip Rudland and Professor Ross Sibson at the University of Liverpool (www.liv.ac.uk), Professor Tony Ng, Richard Dimbleby Professor of Cancer Research, King's College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/biohealth/research/) and Professor John Greenman, University of Hull (http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science/biological_sciences). The main research themes include the molecular biology of radioresistance and cellular motility, with particular emphasis on the p53/MDM2/MTBP and the HER RTK pathways. Currently, 2 PhD and 5 MD students are working on research projects relating to these themes.
2. Clinical Trials: I am the Chief Investigator for two national CR-UK funded early phase clinical trials: REALISTIC and IMCAT. REALISTIC is designed to assess the safety of a therapeutic vaccine (ADXS11-001) in patients with Human Papilloma Virus associated oropharyngeal carcinoma, whilst IMCAT is designed to assess the effectiveness of transimmunization in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. These trials are conducted in collaboration with the Liverpool Clinical Trials Unit (http://www.lctu.org.uk/) and the Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (http://www.lctu.org.uk/lecmc/).
In addition, I am the local Principle Investigator on two national multi-center trials; PET-NECK and DETERMINE (http://inhanse.org) and a co-investigator on a CR-UK funded phase III clinical trial designed to assess the effectiveness of induction TPF in patients with locally advanced but operable head and neck cancer, for which my colleague Mr Richard Shaw is the Chief Investigator (http://www.lctu.org.uk/).
3. Clinical outcomes research: We continually publish on the outcomes of our clinical work. I have a particular interest in voice outcomes following transoral laser surgery; currently 1 MD student is working on a research project designed to investigate the difference in voice quality between patients treated with radiotherapy or transoral laser surgery for early vocal cord cancer.