Rate My Professor George Hanna

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.