Salivary gland

Miss Katharine Davies graduated from Cardiff University in 2007. Having completed her specialty training within the Mersey region she undertook the Head and Neck Fellowship in Aintree University Hospital and took up post as a Consultant Head & Neck and Thyroid surgeon within Liverpool University Hospital NHS Trust in April 2020.

Her work involves both malignant and benign Head and Neck surgery including thyroid and salivary gland pathology. She is actively involved in the recruitment of patients to trials including PATHOS, BEST OF and PITSTOP and undertakes clinics both on the Aintree and Broadgreen site.

Outside of clinical work she is part of the education team delivering regular programmed medical student teaching within the trust. During her fellowship she created multiple surgical, anaesthetic and patient information videos that are used for education and training.

She is the co-creator of the recently designed Liverpool Head and Neck Centre website and the aforementioned videos will form a substantial part of this. As part of this media development she has been creating multiple patient and professional educational resources to better inform patients about conditions treated and the investigations and treatment they may undergo.

She is actively involved with improving the diagnostic pathway for patients with Head and Neck cancer and, in conjunction with the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, is working on ways to achieve earlier diagnosis for patients with Head and Neck Cancer with the aim of improving treatment outcomes. Moving this work forward she is hoping to identify ways to get patients with head and neck cancer to present earlier and is part of a health inequalities group looking at barriers to this and ways to improve it.

Jason Fleming is an academic clinician, working as a Consultant ENT/Head and Neck Surgeon and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Liverpool. His clinical practice is based at Aintree Hospital, which includes a tertiary head and neck cancer service for the patients of St. Helens, Knowsley, Whiston and Warrington. His clinical practice includes all head and neck/thyroid surgery, with a particular interest in trans-oral surgery (robotic/laser), and salvage surgery for recurrent cancer.

Having graduated from higher surgical training in London and the South-East, including specialist placements at St. George’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, and a research secondment to defend a PhD in cancer sciences, he went on to complete an advanced head and neck surgical oncology Fellowship at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital. He then became the first UK trainee to be appointed to the prestigious Ablative and Reconstructive Head and Neck Fellowship at University of Alabama (UAB, Birmingham, AL), where he received dedicated training in trans-oral robotic surgery at one of the early pioneering US centres for the technique.

As a surgeon scientist, Mr Fleming plays an active role in the research and teaching activity of the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre and University of Liverpool, and has been awarded over £2.5 million in research grants. He regularly presents internationally on his clinical and research interests, is widely published in high impact specialty journals and has authored a number of textbook chapters. He is the Fellowship Director for the Shaun Jackson Head and Neck / Thyroid Fellowship.

Find out more

I am a Professor of Head and Neck Surgery and the University of Liverpool and an Honorary Consultant Otolaryngologist / Head and Neck Surgeon at Liverpool University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2019, I was appointed as inaugural Director of the Liverpool Head & Neck Centre, the largest UK NHS/University collaboration delivering research-driven high-quality patient care. I have led the development of Transoral Laser Microsurgery as a standard of care for oropharynx cancer (OPSCC) and co-lead the international clinical trial, PATHOS, which will establish the safety and effectiveness of risk-stratified reduced dose (chemo)radiotherapy for patients undergoing transoral surgery for Human papillomavirus associated oropharynx cancer. Due to report in 2027, if PATHOS proves positive, it will result in global practice change for this patient group

I have secured >£18 million research funding and published >200 peer-reviewed papers, review articles and textbook chapters. I have edited two international reference textbooks (Scott-Brown, Head and Neck and Stell & Maran) as well as Clinical Otolaryngology, the leading UK ENT scientific journal. Research I led, directly influenced the UK government decision to vaccinate boys against Human papillomavirus (HPV), resulting in a predicted ~£0.54billion saving in NHS treatment costs.

I developed cadaveric courses in Transoral Laser Microsurgery Head & Neck surgery resulting in >100 surgeons being trained in the technique, raising the standard of transoral surgery for UK head & neck cancer patients.

Find out more

Mr Lancaster was trained in Liverpool as both an under and post graduate since 1988.

He took up a consultant post at Aintree, joining the head & neck department in 2006. His current practice solely focuses on head & neck cancer; both the investigation of and treatment.

His clinical interests include the applications of trans-oral laser surgery of upper aero-digestive tract tumours and fistula reduction post laryngectomy.

Managerially he has a joint role with the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, working towards the creation of regional rapid diagnostic clinics for the early detection of head & neck cancer.

Mr Christopher Loh is a Consultant Thyroid and Head & Neck surgeon at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Having grown up in Singapore, he completed his medical degree at King’s College London before undertaking his specialty training in Mersey. He was the first Mersey ENT trainee to score highest in the UK for the FRCS exit exam, attaining the gold medal. Following on from this, Chris undertook the Head & Neck Fellowship at Aintree Hospital before joining the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre as a consultant in September 2017.

His current clinical scope of practice includes both malignant and benign thyroid and head & neck surgery. One of his specialist interests is Transoral Laser Microsurgery and Transoral Robotic Surgery of the upper aerodigestive tract. He is accredited on the CMR Versius and Da Vinci SP robotic platforms. He has clinics at Aintree Hospital and Arrowe Park Hospital. In addition, he sees complex thyroid cases from outside of Cheshire & Merseyside. He works closely with, and operates jointly with colleagues at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, The Walton Centre and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. He is the chair of the regional Cheshire & Merseyside Thyroid Cancer MDT.

Outside of his clinical practice, Chris is the course director of the LHNC Transoral Laser Microsurgery and Head & Neck Dissection courses which are held at the University of Liverpool. He is also active in clinical research at LHNC, recruiting patients into clinical trials including PETNECK2, TALGiTS, TARGET Head & Neck, Transgene & Versius, and is the principal investigator of the HoT trial and LARCH research study. In addition, Chris has a particular interest in clinical informatics, and is an Associate Chief Clinical Information Officer at LUHFT.

Miss Munir is a senior consultant surgeon in adult ENT, Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base surgery at Aintree University Hospital, University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. She was apppointed in 2013 and at the time of her appointment, she was the only female ENT Lateral Skull Base Consultant Surgeon in the UK. She has been through UK training in all aspects of ENT and extensively trained in otology and the management of benign and malignant skull base and neurotology conditions. She has undertaken two world-renowned and competitive international fellowships in Toronto, Canada and Cambridge, UK. These are two prestigious world leading skull base units with the highest reputation for training leaders in the field. 

Her day-to-day clinical practice consists of an outpatient and surgical workload of otology, advanced otology, neurotology and benign and malignant lateral skull base cases. She receives specialist and tertiary referrals from the Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales regions as well as the Isle of Man, a total catchment population of 3.1 million people. She provides specialist expert ENT support to The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery and undertakes joint complex skull base surgical procedures at the regional neurosurgical centre. She provides a regional complex parotid surgery service, managing the most difficult salivary cases referred from the region as well as from other consultants within the unit. Her outcomes for this work are world class and have been presented at prestigious international meetings, including the American Association of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. 

She is the regional head and neck paraganglioma MDT chair, which she set up in 2018 to ensure safe care with all appropriate governance for these complex and rare tumours. She has been the Past-Chair of the regional Skull Base MDT and continues to be a core member of the MDT. During her tenure as the MDT chair, she lead the clinical activity of the MDT, working to agreed Network guidelines, ensuring a high quality of integrated services which meet local, regional and national standards. She successfully lead the team through a rigorous National NHS Peer Review process. She established and ran several Annual Liverpool Skull Base Group meetings, ensuring all guidelines and policies were discussed as well as auditing the MDT’s activities and outcomes. She continues to contribute to the National Vestibular Schwannoma Audit.

She has a significant and varied education portfolio. She is the current Training Programme Director for Trainees Requiring Extra Support for the North West School of Surgery, and was until recently the Royal College of Surgeons of England surgical tutor for the Trust. She has set up, leads and teaches on the Merseyside temporal bone dissection courses for a number of years, educating well over 150 worldwide trainees. She teaches on all aspects of temporal bone anatomy, surgical approaches and hearing rehabilitation. She is invited faculty to national training meetings and training courses. She has published peer review articles as well as written and edited books and is the current Lateral Skull Base section editor for the upcoming 9th edition of Scott Brown Otorhinolarynology, which is the definitive British textbook for ENT. She is also the Section Editor for Journal Reviews for ENT and Audiology News, an internationally renowned speciality magazine. She was the Northwest deanery Speciality Training Education Committee Chair from 2020 – 2023, and sits on the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre education committee as the regional Otology representative. Day to day, she is a GMC accredited educational and clinical supervisor, providing training and supervision for all grades of junior medical staff. She undertakes formal teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees as well as allied health professionals. Through her continued supervision, support and guidance several of her trainees have been successful in securing prestigious fellowships and consultant posts in otology and skull base surgery, including two further female Lateral Skull Base ENT Surgeons that have now been appointed in England.

She is the departmental governance lead, ensuring that the procedures and processes are implemented and adhered to ensure patient safety is of the highest order, as well as being the handler for any clinical incidents that arise within the department. She has undertaken significant development of the skull base service over her consultant career, ensuring that contemporary and modern practices are implemented and that outcomes are audited in order to meet the exacting standards our patients deserve. Her primary focus has always been and shall always remain, provision of the best possible care to all her patients.

Mr Roland is a Consultant ORL/Head & Neck Surgeon at Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, UK. He has a particular interest in Head & Neck Surgery (including salivary gland, thyroid/parathyroid, and skin cancer surgery).

He served as the Chair of the University Hospital Aintree Head & Neck Cancer MDT and Chair of Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network Group (2004 -2012). He was the Royal College of Surgeons Regional Affairs Adviser for ENT (2003 -2012) and a member of the Surgical Training and Education Committee. He has been heavily involved with surgical training throughout his career and many practicing surgeons all over the UK have benefited from his guidance.

He was a member of ENT UK Clinical Practice Advisory and Audit Committee (2000- 2005) and served on ENT UK Council (2003-2012) and was Chairman of ENT UK Head & Neck Society (2012-2015). He was elected to represent ENT at BAHNO Council in 2009 and served as Honorary Secretary (2011 – 2019). He was bestowed with Honorary Life Membership of BAHNO in 2019.

Mr Roland has written over 70 peer reviewed publications. He has presented extensively, and regularly invited to lecture at National and International conferences. He has contributed to 14 textbooks and is first author of the widely acclaimed postgraduate textbook Key Topics in Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery (3rd edition, 2019). Considered to be “the exam bible”, this has helped a generation of ENT surgeons to successfully navigate post-graduate exams, including the Royal College of Surgeons Intercollegiate Examination and European Board Examination.

In 2009, he was appointed the National Lead to produce Multidisciplinary UK Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Head & Neck Cancer. He was the Lead Editor in its production in 2011 and 2016. This document is now regarded as a standard of care not only in the UK, but many other countries.

Mr Roland is the Clinical Director of the ORL/Head & Neck Surgery unit of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

I am a clinical-academic Head & Neck Surgeon from an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery background, providing cancer and reconstructive surgical care to Head & Neck patients.

Originally from New Zealand, I completed my Higher Surgical Training in the internationally renowned Liverpool unit, ultimately being awarded the BAOMS Intercollegiate Gold Medal for outstanding performance in the national speciality exit examination.

I held the inaugural Wellcome Trust-FDS Research Fellowship, supporting my doctoral research into Human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancers, and leading to the award of PhD in molecular oncology from the University of Liverpool in 2013. I subsequently held a prestigious NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer (ACL) post in Liverpool.

Within my clinical role is as Consultant Head & Neck Surgeon at Aintree Hospital, I cover the breadth of Oral & Maxillofacial oncology surgery and reconstruction. I have a particular interest in virtual surgical planning technologies for complex custom composite reconstructions.

Offering all patients the opportunity and choice to be involved in clinical research/clinical trials is an ambition that I share with many of the Head & Neck team. LHNC has unique strengths in delivery of the national portfolio of clinical trials to our patients, with the aim to improve outcomes.

As a member of the Merseyside Head & Neck Oncology Research Group (MHNORG) I pursue both academic and surgical research interests, integrating “bench to bedside” research ambitions.

I have research interests in novel technologies and therapies, and ultimately how they can be incorporated into routine clinical care to achieve improvements in outcomes and provide tangible patient benefit.
Within my academic role, I supervise several doctoral (PhD/D) students (both from clinical and basic science backgrounds) and I am departmental director for post-graduate research (DDPR) within cancer medicine.

As Lead for Education within the Liverpool Head & Neck Centre I am responsible for coordinating the extensive portfolio of educational activities that LHNC delivers. I support postgraduate and undergraduate education within the Liverpool School of Medicine both as Deputy Director for 5th Year student doctors and as module lead for several Masters in OMFS modules. Alongside my colleagues, I am course director/faculty for a variety of continuing professional development courses.

Professor Shaw has been an honorary Consultant at Aintree and the Dental Hospital since 2007, and prior to that trained in surgery in Glasgow and Liverpool, undertaking a H&N surgery fellowship. He has an academic interest in research and teaching (see the relevant pages of LHNC) and is president elect of the International Academy of Oral Oncology (IAOO).

He has significant experience in H&N reconstruction and in particular oral cavity cancers. He has a research and clinical interest in premalignant lesions, sentinel node biopsy and late effects of radiotherapy including osteoradionecrosis.

Find out more