Professor Mark Mcgurk

I am a consultant at the Head and Neck Service, University College Hospital London and Director of the Head and Neck Academic Centre, University College London, Division of Surgical Interventional Sciences. My undergraduate studies (dentistry and medicine) were undertaken at Sheffield University and my postgraduate education at Manchester University. I was appointed to Guy’s Hospital Dental Institute in 1992. I moved to University College Hospital in September 2016. My area of clinical interest is minimally invasive management of head and neck cancer and to this end I have set up a charity, Head & Neck Cancer Foundation (HNCF), to promote this ideal. I have also led a recent European trial on sentinel node biopsy which has resulted in the introduction of sentinel node biopsy to the UK. We have also just been awarded a £1.2m MRC grant for extending the use of SNB. In addition I have a particular interest in the management of salivary gland disease (stones, strictures, tumours) and over the last 20 years have worked with 4 teams around the world to revolutionise the management of this condition. Before we started the standard of care was the removal of the salivary gland. Now only 4% of glands need to be removed! Outside my work I have started a charity HNCF to promote minimally invasive techniques in head & neck cancer treatment. I have also undertaken surgical missions, with the charity Project Harar, to Ethiopia for 12 consecutive years. This involves over 20 nurses, doctors and dietitians working in teams for a period of about 2 months treating patients with severe facial deformity. I have contributed to university life by working through committees on education, examinations and also to the greater medical profession by membership of the Dental Faculty of the Royal College of Surgeons and I was chairman of the High Claims committee of Dental Protection society. I was President of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons.

I am an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon/Head and Neck Surgeon and am part of the North London Head & Neck Cancer Group at University College Hospital London (UCLH). I provide a specialist service in oral cancer and reconstruction. I have pursued an interest in minimally invasive treatment of head and neck disease. We have revolutionised the conservative management salivary gland disease which includes benign parotid tumours, salivary stones and strictures. In mouth cancer I have introduced sentinel node biopsy to the UK and this technique saves 75% of patients a major neck dissection. One other major advance is the conservative management of odontogenic jaw tumours. These lesions occur in young people and the new technique avoids jaw resection in this vulnerable group. A general service is provided for oral and head and neck lumps and bumps such as facial skin cancers, jaw cysts, neck lumps, ameloblastomas, lip lumps, mucoceles, cysts, facial trauma and jaw fractures, routine and complex dental extractions - wisdom teeth; impacted teeth; buried roots; bone grafting; sinus lifts.