Research Committee

Professor Angus Watson is the Clinical Chair of Surgery at the University of Aberdeen. He is an honorary consultant surgeon at NHS Highland. He is an elected member of council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Clinical Advisor to the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. He trained in Manchester, Scotland and New Zealand before being appointed as a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 2005. He has a doctorate from the University of St Andrews. Professor Watson moved to Inverness in 2009. His main clinical interests are emergency and colorectal surgery. His research interests are diverse. He is a co-applicant and Principal Investigator of a wide range of national and international clinical trials. He chairs the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s (RCSEd) Research Committee and its Global Surgery Foundation. His innovations include the Scottish Surgical Boot Camp and he is the instigator and clinical lead of the NHS Scotland Colon Capsule programme (ScotCap). He has created digital applications for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Macmillan. He has an interest in developing homes for assisted living and has a number of grants to promote surgical skills acquisition using bio-synthetic tissue and augmented reality. He runs the RCSEd’s surgical skills competition. He has over 230 peer reviewed publications, book chapters and conference papers and he has delivered healthcare across the globe, most recently in Ukraine along with UK-Med.

I am a Consultant and Honorary Professor of Orthodontics in Dundee, Scotland. My clinical and research interests involve investigating the causes of clefts of the lip and palate, reducing the burden of cleft care, orthodontic and orthognathic care, the effectiveness of different forms of orthodontic treatment through primary research and systematic / Cochrane reviews, and addressing and validating innovative methods of imaging the dentition, the face and clefts in health and disease. My research work involves collaborations in the UK, Ireland, Iraq, China, South Africa and Australia. To date, I have been a co-author on >120 publications, a variety of books and book chapters, and £2.7M grant income. I have been an examiner and examiner assessor for a variety of RCSEd dental examinations for most of my postgraduate career and the College has provided me with many rewarding opportunities as my clinical and academic career has developed. I am currently Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery. One of the privileges of this role is to sit on the Research Committee and work with a dynamic team to encourage and enthuse College members at all stages of their career to develop their research portfolio. Today's research is tomorrow's healthcare and the RCSEd Research Committee has an important role in nurturing ideas and innovations in order to continue to improve global health standards and patient safety for future generations. 

Gerry is Chair of Oral Health Services Research and Gerodontology in the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast, where he leads oral health research. Gerry is a specialist in Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry working as a Consultant in the Belfast NHS Health and Social Care Trust. His clinical duties are based in the Centre for Dentistry, Queens University Belfast where he also provides clinical supervision and teaching for dental undergraduates and postgraduates. His research is centred around optimising treatment options for older patients which positively impact their dental and overall health.  He has published over 150 peer reviewed articles and edited two textbooks. His research has been supported by more than £10 million in competitive grants from the National Institute for Healthcare Research, the Dunhill Medical Trust, the Health Research Board and from industry.

Gerry is the current president of the British Dental Association, Northern Ireland Branch and has previously been President of the British Society of Gerodontology, European College of Gerodontology and the Geriatric Oral Research Group within the International Association for Dental Research.  He has been awarded a King James IV Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, an adjunct Professorship from University College Cork and is a visiting Professor in both the Federal University of Goais, Brazil and Zurich University. Gerry holds a fellowship from both the Faculty of Dental Surgery and the Faculty of Dental Trainers at RCSEd.

I have been conferred the title of Honorary Professor at Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation (AHERF) for my contribution to international teaching, training, academic publishing and Research Scholarship. I have a Global Research Profile; being on the list that represents the top 2% of Scientists in Orthopaedic Surgery in the world released by Stanford University on 06.10.2023 and 10.10.2022. I have built a strong publication portfolio being an Author of 250+ Index, peer-reviewed articles, 190+ PubMed records with over 4000 citations to date and serve as a Deputy Editor at the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma (JCOT) (Elsevier).

I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCS Ed) since 2009, a member of the RCS Edinburgh Research, Grants & Fellowship Committee and the SAS and Locum Consultants Committee (SASLC) since 2022-2023.

The RCSEd offers a number of different fellowships, travelling fellowships, grants, awards, student bursaries and scholarships pertaining to different specialities of surgery and dentistry to benefit patients and improve care. I bring my expertise as an Author and Editor in assessing research proposals submitted to the College. I believe this role is crucial to support the RCSEd vision of delivering Research Scholarship, advance research and develop Evidence Based Medicine in enhancing quality patient care.

The RCSEd is my academic home with its strong interest in education, leadership, research, and career development of all surgeons aspiring to deliver high standard of surgical care.

I would encourage everyone to avail of the opportunities at the RCSEd Research, Grants & Fellowship Committee and support the College vision of improving patient outcomes and care. 

Professor Nirmal Kumar is council member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh and Chair of ENT UK Foundation having served as President of ENT UK (2019-2022). He is Consultant ENT surgeon at WWL Teaching NHS Foundation Trust where he is also Deputy Medical Director (Responsible Officer) having previously served as DME. Nirmal has an active research portfolio, supervises, and is examiner at universities in UK and abroad, former vice-chair of the SAC in otolaryngology. Nirmal leads on UG and PG programmes in Edge Hill University Medical School. He has published extensively in medical literature with more than 200 publications.

Professor Farhat Din is a senior lecturer with the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on colorectal cancer prevention by investigating the molecular mechanisms of the anti-tumour effects of chemopreventive agents on energy and metabolism signalling. She integrates her translational research programme with her clinical practice as a consultant colorectal surgeon at the Western General Hospital. Her contribution to translational research clinical surgery and training was recognised by the Hunter Doig Medal in 2015. She is on the RCSEd and Tenovus research committees. At a national level, Farhat has contributed to the NICE committee on FIT and contributes to cancer prevention networks including the ECMC- UK Therapeutic Cancer Prevention Network. Farhat was appointment Scotland's first Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair from April 2023, a joint appointment between RCSEd and Bowel Cancer UK.

Mr Siong Liau is a Consultant Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgeon based at the Cambridge Regional HPB Surgical Unit, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. He was the Chair of the Surgical Specialty Board in General Surgery at the College from 2020-22. He recently served a 4-year term as the Finance Director of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) and is a current Board Trustee of the ASGBI Foundation Charity. He received surgical training in Cambridge, Toronto, Hong Kong, Paris and Edinburgh. He was fellowship-trained in HPB Surgical Oncology and Abdominal Multiorgan Transplantation at the Toronto General Hospital, Canada and in Advanced Laparoscopic HPB Surgery at L'Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris, France. His main clinical interest is in minimally-invasive HPB surgery.

Kalu U. E. Ogbureke is Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial/Head and Neck Pathology at the School of Dentistry, and Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Sciences at the McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas. He was Chair of the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry (UTHealth) from October 2012 to December 2019. Ogbureke is a 2016 King James IV Professor, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Ogbureke holds several visiting professor appointments at institutions globally. Ogbureke is the principal investigator studying the role of the Small Integrin Binding Ligand N-linked Glycoproteins (SIBLING) family of proteins in oral cancer and precancers, and has been funded in this effort through grant from NIH, foundations, and institution grants. His published research findings in the field of oral/head and neck cancers over 2 ½ decades qualify as true “discoveries”; they have proved seminal, and have resulted in significant paradigm shifts in the field of the SIBLINGs and cancer biology. Ogbureke is a recognized global authority in the field. His clinical practice is in diagnostic Oral & Maxillofacial Histopathology, Head & Neck Pathology, and Clinical Oral Medicine. Ogbureke is a recipient of numerous international/global awards. In 2018, Professor Ogbureke was awarded a Certificate of Congressional Recognition (CCR) by the United States House of Representative. He is a member of the Research Committee, RCSED, and hopes to remain an active member contributing to the commission and goals of the Committee.

Professor Rowan Parks is President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), Professor of Surgical Sciences and Honorary Consultant Surgeon at the University of Edinburgh. He is also General Secretary of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA). He is Past-President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) and of the Great Britain & Ireland Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (GBIHPBA), and Past-Deputy Medical Director of NHS Education for Scotland (NES). He has published >180 papers, 48 book chapters, and 11 surgical textbooks. He has delivered >350 eponymous and invited lectures, has been awarded several prestigious prizes and awards.

I am a transplant surgeon working in liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. I have completed my surgical and transplant training in Edinburgh, Birmingham and Kings College London and I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. I have worked for 24 years in the NHS and I am a past Director of the Edinburgh Transplant Centre and former Transplant Advisor to the Chief Medical Officer in Scotland. In 2023, I have taken up the position of Professor of Transplantation Surgery at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

My research focuses on two aspects. Firstly, on the role of technology in transplantation and finding ways to improve the quality of and repair the organs prior to transplantation, and ensure that the last for as long as possible. Secondly, I focus on ways to ensure equal access to transplant care for all patients.

I am part of the Research Committee at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. I am delighted to support the college mission to encourage young researchers to develop ground breaking projects and to foster an environment of innovation in the NHS.