Rate My Professor Paul Horgan

Professor Paul Horgan is the St Mungo Professor of Surgery in the School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing at the University of Glasgow. He holds qualifications including PhD and FRCS and serves as Head of the Academic Unit of Surgery. His clinical practice is based in the colorectal services at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he specializes in advanced metastatic colorectal cancer. The unit provides diagnosis, staging, and resection of primary and secondary colorectal cancer, particularly liver metastases, and is distinctive in performing synchronous colon and hepatic resections. Professor Horgan's research centers on translational clinical research in surgery, with a focus on colorectal and pancreatic cancer. Key areas include systemic inflammatory responses, inflammation-based prognostic scores such as the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), body composition analysis via CT, tumor microenvironment factors, neoadjuvant therapy responses, socioeconomic influences on outcomes, and predictors of survival and recurrence in colorectal cancer patients undergoing curative resection.

Professor Horgan has contributed extensively to the literature, with 248 publications listed on his University of Glasgow profile from 2003 to 2026. Highly cited works include 'The systemic inflammation-based neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio: experience in patients with cancer' (2013, 1994 citations), 'A novel technique for parenchymal division during hepatectomy' (2001, 1340 citations), 'A comparison of inflammation-based prognostic scores in patients with cancer. A Glasgow Inflammation Outcome Study' (2011, 969 citations), and 'An inflammation-based prognostic score (mGPS) predicts cancer survival independent of tumour site: a Glasgow Inflammation Outcome Study' (2011, 628 citations). Recent publications encompass 'The relationship between systemic inflammatory response, screen detection and outcome in colorectal cancer' (2024), 'TAK1 expression is associated with increased PD-L1 and decreased cancer-specific survival in microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer' (2024), 'Circulating markers of systemic inflammation, measured after completion of neoadjuvant therapy, associated with response in locally advanced rectal cancer' (2025), and 'Impact of socioeconomic deprivation in patients undergoing elective surgical resection for colon cancer' (2026). His work has advanced understanding of prognostic factors and improved clinical strategies in colorectal surgery, influencing outcomes through inflammation-based assessments and personalized treatment approaches.