Rate My Professor George Hanna

Professor George Hanna serves as Professor of Surgical Sciences and Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer within the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. He is also Head of the Division of Surgery and a Consultant General Surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, specialising in oesophago-gastric cancer and benign upper gastrointestinal conditions including gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, achalasia, gall stones, and hernias. Hanna holds qualifications MB BCh, PhD (1997 on the ergonomics of laparoscopic surgery), FRCS, and FRCS (Gen Surg). His training commenced in 1992 at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland, where he specialised in general surgery, laparoscopic, and oesophago-gastric surgery under mentorship, followed by a lectureship position. In 2003, he joined Imperial College London as Clinical Senior Lecturer and Upper Gastrointestinal Consultant Surgeon, advancing to Reader in 2005 and Professor of Surgical Sciences in 2008. He assumed the role of Head of the Division of Surgery in 2012 and Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer in 2018.

Hanna's academic interests centre on human factors and ergonomics in surgery, minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques, and innovative diagnostics for gastrointestinal cancers. He leads the Hanna Group, developing a single breath test as a triage tool for early detection of oesophageal, gastric, pancreatic, liver, and colorectal cancers via volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis in breath. Key studies include biomarker validation for oesophageal and gastric cancers (AU-ROC up to 0.92), the COBRA study for colorectal cancer (n=1432, AU-ROC=0.91), pancreatic cancer (n=132, AU-ROC=0.90), and VOCAL for liver cancer (n=154, AU-ROC=0.94). Ongoing translational research and large-scale trials encompass around 30,000 patients, incorporating organoid models, microbiome analysis, and health economics. His publication record exceeds 500 papers with over 21,000 citations, including 'Observational tools for assessment of procedural skills: a systematic review' (Ahmed et al., American Journal of Surgery, 2011), 'Laparoscopic or open abdominal surgery with thoracotomy for oesophago-gastric cancer' (British Journal of Surgery, 2024), and the ROMIO study (British Journal of Cancer, 2025). Hanna was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2022 and appointed NIHR Senior Investigator in 2026.