Professor Deena Harji

Professional statement

Professor Deena Harji is a multi-award-winning consultant robotic and colorectal surgeon and has a large colorectal practice in Manchester. She is an internationally recognised expert in all areas of colorectal cancer management and uses robotic surgery wherever possible for its precision and reduced surgical trauma with its enhanced effect on recovery. She has performed over 200 robotic rectal resections and uses allied digital technology wherever appropriate to improve her patient’s outcomes.
 
Professor Harji studied medicine at the University of Birmingham before moving on to basic surgical training in the West Midlands. She then underwent a period of research at the John Goligher Colorectal Unit in Leeds, culminating in her PhD in 2017. Following this, she progressed into higher surgical training where she was trained in pelvic exenteration and robotic surgery and represented colorectal trainees across the UK and Ireland as Dukes Club President. This intense period of training and study ended with her being awarded the Intercollegiate ASGBI Gold Medal for her performance in the FRCS (2019) and the Association of Coloproctology Great Britain and Ireland Young Coloproctologist of the Year (2020). She remains the only surgeon to receive both accolades.
 
Following completion of surgical training, Professor Harji was awarded a year-long European Society of Coloproctology Fellowship to study robotic surgery in the world-renowned colorectal department in Bordeaux being exposed to operating volumes and specialised techniques not available in the UK. She was awarded the Diploma of the European Board of Surgical Qualification (ESBQ) in 2019 in Vienna. She was appointed to Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a consultant colorectal surgeon in 2021.
 
Professor Harji is a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) advanced fellow and an associate professor of surgical trials at the University of Leeds and has a large academic portfolio including NIHR RfPB and NIHR-HTA trials with total grant funding approaching £6 million. She has published multiple peer reviewed papers, written book chapters and published multiple peer-reviewed robotic technical videos. She is in great demand as an international speaker and has given invited podium lectures in London, Amsterdam and Denver over the past year and is due to speak in Milan, Sydney and Bordeaux before the end of 2023.
 
Professor Harji sits on the Robotic and Digital Surgery Committee at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and is a founder member of their Future of Surgery Innovation Hub. She is a member of the European Organisation of Treatment and Research for Cancer Quality of Life group and a is member of the research committee of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. She is currently leading a guideline group at the European Society of Coloproctology, assessing the functional outcomes after colorectal surgery.