Meet the head and neck cancer team

As part of your cancer treatment you may require surgery. The surgeon treating you will be a specialist consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery, or a consultant ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon.

Oncologists are specialists in the chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment used to treat your type of cancer.

Consultant radiologists are specialists in examining and interpreting x-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, bone scans and other diagnostic tests to diagnose disease.

Clinical Nurse Specialists are qualified nurses with specialist training and extensive experience in treating patients with your type of cancer. They offer advice and support throughout your diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.#

Your CNS may also act as your ‘key-worker’ during your treatment, which means they are a consistent point of contact for you, your family and any professionals involved in your care.

Speech and language therapists provide treatment which aims to maximise abilities relating to speech, voice, swallowing and communication.

• Click here to find out more about the Speech and Language Therapy Service

Dietitians are nutrition professionals who use their extensive knowledge of the science of food and nutrition to ensure best possible nutritional care.

Physiotherapists and occupational therapists will work closely together to assist you in returning to independence following your treatment.

Macmillan support workers provide one-to-one patient support, advice and guidance, and links patients to the Macmillan Support and Information Service at UCLH.

The MDT Coordinator makes sure that cancer patients are prioritised and treated within the 62 day timeframe set by national guidelines.

The MDT Coordinator organises Multidisciplinary Team Meetings (MTM) and discussions of cancer patient care between clinical teams, allied health professionals and administration staff. Each cancer patient is discussed at the MTM where the experience of all staff is used to put the best plan for the patient forward.

Mr Dwivedi is a full-time consultant ear, nose, throat (ENT) / head & neck surgeon at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH), London. He is also an honorary clinical associate professor at the University College London. Prior to joining UCLH in 2019 he was a consultant head & neck surgeon at QEUH Glasgow.

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Mr Hughes graduated from the University of Bristol Medical School in 2000. His higher surgical training included placements at recognised centres of excellence, including The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear, Imperial College and University College.

During his ENT training, Jonathan was awarded the Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship to undertake research into oncolytic viral gene therapy, which culminated in the award of PhD in 2013.

Following ENT training and research, he completed two Royal College of Surgeons of England accredited fellowships in head and neck surgery, and laryngology (voice / airway / swallowing); forming the basis of his super-specialist interests.

In 2014, Jonathan visited Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to learn minimally-invasive and robotic head and neck surgery from world leaders in the field.

“Making decisions about the best individualised treatment for a patient with head and neck cancer can be challenging. I take pride in guiding patients through this process and making the best choice based on their personal needs.”

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Mr Stimpson has a special interest in benign and malignant conditions of the head and neck region including thyroid and salivary gland disorders.

He completed his higher surgical training in the North Thames region. During this training period he completed placements at major London teaching hospitals including Great Ormond Street, Barts Health, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. In addition to his specialist experience in London, he undertook a 12 month advanced surgical oncology fellowship in Melbourne, Australia prior to taking up his substantive consultant post at Barts Health in 2014.

He was lead clinician and chairman of the Barts Health Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) for 3 years before moving to UCLH as a substantive consultant in 2019. He is lead clinician for the MDT unification project to improve patient outcomes for H&N cancer in North East and North Central London.

He is is actively involved with research, audit, training and teaching and sits on the education board of the UCL H&N Academy. He is a core member of the UCLH H&N and Thyroid MDT. He is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow.

“Across our region we have a great team of specialists who are dedicated to improving the lives of head and neck cancer patients. At UCLH we are in a unique position to provide state of the art surgical care and we strive for excellence in everything we do.”

Mr Vaz qualified from the University of London through The United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals in 1994 and has visited institutions around the world to broaden his experience and to bring an international flavour to his practice.

Mr Vaz has published widely on all aspects of ENT surgery and has contributed chapters to major ENT and general medical textbooks. He has received prestigious awards from The Royal College of Surgeons (Lionel College Fellowship) and also The British Association of Head and Neck Surgeons (BAHNO Travelling Fellowship).

“The treatment for head and neck cancer is increasingly individualised for every patient. It is wonderful to work within a team that offers the patient a high level of expertise, to tailor the treatments to the patient, as not all treatments are suitable for every patient.”

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Nicholas Kalavrezos is a head and neck reconstructive surgeon and the lead clinician in the Head and Neck Centre at UCLH with a background in oral and maxillo-facial surgery. Mr Kalavrezos is also the lead head and neck sarcoma surgeon for the London Sarcoma Service. His clinical practice includes ablative and reconstructive surgery for the head and neck with a special interest in bone sarcomas and functional outcomes following reconstructive surgery. His clinical practice also includes surgical treatment of salivary gland tumours as well as thyroid surgery.

Mr Kalavrezos’ research interests include applications of “tissue engineering” in head and neck reconstruction. He is a founding member of the “Centre for Reconstructive Surgery” at University College London (UCL) where he also holds a senior lecturer post. He is also a member of the “Face Transplant Group” based at the Royal Free Hospital aiming to perform the first face transplant in the UK. He has joint research projects in the Nanotechnology Lab of UCL on “tissue engineered bio-scaffolding” aiming to replace defects of the head and neck (i.e. nose and ears) with tissue-engineered based micro-vascular flap reconstruction.

Nicholas lectures regularly at national and international meetings and holds the position of the secretary general on the Executive Board of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery.

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Mr Liew was appointed consultant oral and maxillofacial head and neck surgeon in 2009. He has a specialist interest in ablative and reconstructive head and neck surgery, salivary gland and skin surgery.

Mr Liew completed training at the London Deanery. He was a fellow of head and neck surgical oncology at West of Scotland Regional Services from 2007-2008.

He is currently chair of the MDT, MDT lead of the head and neck oncology service and tracheostomy services MDT lead. Previously he has been education lead and assigned educational supervisor (2009-2015) and head and neck audit lead (2009-2014).

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Ms Schilling is a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon specialising in Head and Neck cancer and reconstructive surgery. She is Honorary Associate Professor of the Head and Neck Academic Centre (HNAC) in the division of surgical and interventional science at University College London.

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Dr Carnell's particular interests include general ENT and maxillofacial and in particular sinus cancer. Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy, which is one of her current research areas, is in routine use now for head and neck cancer at UCLH, as well as concurrent chemoradiation protocols and the use of molecular targeted treatments. She has a particular interest in sinus tumours e.g. olfactory neuroblastoma, holding a regular joint clinic with Professor Valerie Lund (Professor of Rhinology). She is the principal investigator for the PET-NECK trial looking at the role of early PET scanning to direct post radiation surgery.

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Dr Forster is a UCL Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at UCLH. He specialises in the management of thoracic and head & neck cancers and is also UCH Chemotherapy Lead. He has a particular interest in drug development, running a broad portfolio of studies. This ranges from first-in-man to registration phase III trials and being Principal Investigator or Chief Investigator for over 30 early and late phase clinical trials since his appointment to UCL in 2009. He is joint Clinical Trials Lead for the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence and collaborates broadly with national and international groups involved in translational research.

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Dr Mendes is a consultant clinical oncologist specialising in the delivery of radiotherapy, including proton radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in head and neck cancer patients, working closely with the head and neck surgical team and the Eastman Dental Hospital.

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Sofia Otero is a consultant radiologist specialising in head and neck imaging.

Sofia graduated from the University of Oxford in 2007 and undertook radiology specialist training in London, including at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, The Royal Marsden and The Royal Brompton (obtaining FRCR in 2013) before completing a fellowship in head and neck radiology at UCLH.

Her interests include imaging of head and neck cancer, thyroid and salivary ultrasound, sinonasal imaging, imaging of the middle and inner ear, and core biopsy of soft tissue lumps and lymph nodes.

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Kirstie graduated from Leeds University School of Medicine in 2004. She completed anaesthesia training in the Central London School of Anesthesia, and was appointed consultant in anaesthesia at University College Hospital in 2015. Her key interests are those of advanced airway management and the use of digital technology to support surgical pathways. She is faculty on a number of advanced airway skills courses for anarsthetists.

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