Professor Tim Underwood

Professor Underwood is an internationally recognised expert Upper GI surgeon with over 12 years’ experience as a consultant in the NHS. He works at one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK with a national & regional referral practice including cancer, benign and bariatrics in addition to general and trauma surgery. Professor Underwood is the Director of Research for AUGIS with extensive experience of report writing, guideline creation and external review of Upper GI surgical services.

Oesophageal and gastric cancer. Other benign and malignant tumours of the upper GI tract including GIST. Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and Barrett’s oesophagus. Laparoscopic and robotic surgery for upper GI disease.

Professor Underwood co-leads the Innovation for Translation Research Group, University of Southampton, studying the role of the tumour microenvironment in cancer development and progression with a particular interest in oesophageal cancer and tumour ecology. His team focus on understanding the clinical and molecular determinants of response to therapy and the development of new treatments that target the tumour microenvironment, including immunotherapy. His team are developing a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline decision-making for the oesophageal cancer multi-disciplinary team and he was recently awarded the title of AI Champion by Responsible AI UK.

Professor Underwood has been an invited speaker/lecturer at multiple events, including: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Scientific Meeting, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery (GB&I) Scientific Meeting, BASO – Association of Cancer Surgery, Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, Surgical Research Society. Professor Underwood also featured in the BBC Series “Surgeons: At the Edge of Life”, Series 6, episode 4 “Hope”, 2024.

Professor Underwood has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including articles in Nature, Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery and Diseases of the Esophagus.

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Extensive experience at regional, national and international level. Prof Underwood was Head of School of Cancer Sciences, University of Southampton (2018-2021) and Director of Transformation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (2021-2022). He is a member of Council of the Association of Upper GI Surgery GB&I and the Royal College of Surgeons of England Clinical Research Initiative.

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