e-Consultation with Gastroenterologists

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Dr Vinay Sehgal is a renowned consultant gastroenterologist and interventional endoscopist who sees patients at The London Clinic Consulting Rooms (Harley Street), The Riverside Clinic (West London) and University College Hospital London. Dr Sehgal passionately believes in spending time to better understand all of his patients needs and provides a holistic treatment plan for all of his patients. Dr Sehgal see patients with a variety of gastrointestinal disorders including irritable bowel syndrome, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and functional dyspepsia. In addition he has a specialist interest in treating patients with Barrett's Oesophagus including early non-invasive curative therapy, acid reflux, hiatal hernia, heartburn and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), and numerous other important conditions that affect the upper GI tract. Dr Sehgal has a particular expertise in artificial intelligence-based classification systems to improve the detection of early oesophageal cancer so that patients can be offered curative therapy. Dr Sehgal's other interests include the development of minimally invasive endoscopic techniques to treat early cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract. He has published numerous original manuscripts and reviews in this field and regularly presents at international meetings. Dr Sehgal graduated from The University of Liverpool in 2007 and completed his specialist training in gastroenterology in North East London. Dr Sehgal completed his PhD at University College London where he developed a novel tumour model of oesophageal cancer used to help develop new treatments for patients with oesophageal cancer. Dr Sehgal is a member of faculty at the British Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Training Committee for The Royal College of Physicians. He is actively involved in hands-training and numerous live endoscopy courses at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Sehgal has a keen interest in research and supervises a research team, that investigates endoscopic techniques and procedures to ultimately streamline and improve the care given to patients. His research is focused on existing and novel endoscopic imaging technologies to help detect and treat early cancer of the gastrointestinal tract including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). His clinic at UCLH was the first centre in the world to adopt this technology with other centres following its lead. It ultimately helped improve the care we offer to such patients.

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Dr Ganesh Sivaji is a highly-experienced consultant gastroenterologist based in Harrogate, England. He diagnoses and treats a wide range of gastrointestinal and hepatological diseases. His areas of expertise include inflammatory bowel disease, indigestion and reflux disease, liver diseases, bowel cancer management, Barrett's disease and endoscopy. In 1995, Dr Sivaji graduated from Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Med University in Chennai, India. He then continued studies and went on to obtain his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1998. Dr Sivaji has been practising as a consultant in the UK since 2002, and now holds private consultancy positions in Harrogate at both BMI The Duchy Hospital and the Harrogate Hospital. Since 2010, he has also been operating at the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation. In addition to his consultancy work, Dr Sivaji takes a keen interest in education and training; he is a Royal Collage International examiner and the training program director for Yorkshire. He is also a member of the BMA.

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Dr Michael Mendall is a renowned London-based gastroenterologist who qualified from Cambridge University. He has made a number of important contributions to his field of expertise. He is internationally recognised with nearly 100 peer reviewed publications. He was the first to show that Helicobacter pylori infection of the stomach is mainly caught in childhood, and, more recently, was the first to show that obesity can be a cause of Crohn's disease. He specialises in endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, dyspepsia (indigestion) and IBS, among others, and has written extensively on the role of diet in Crohn's, about IBS, the treatment of dyspepsia and reflux and Helicobacter pylori infection. He is currently lead for gastroenterology at Croydon University Hospital, as well as a senior lecturer at St George's Medical School and a member of various medical organisations. He was named one of the top UK Consultants in the Tatler Guide 2013.

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Dr Ian Johnston is a leading gastroenterologist in Reading and Henley who specialises in treating acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhoea, endoscopy and colonoscopy. He also holds a special interest and provides expert guidance in nutrition. Initial consultations will by video or telephone lasting 30 mins. Often this is all that will be required to improve your symptoms or to provide reassurance. If tests such as endoscopy or ultrasound are required these are done at Spire Dunedin in Reading. Follow up face to face consultation will sometimes be necessary and these can be arranged at Spire Dunedin or in Henley-on-Thames. Dr Johnston worked in the NHS and private sector at St Mark's Hospital, London as a consultant gastroenterologist for four years before moving his practice to Berkshire. He has trained and carried out his research in London teaching hospitals. Dr Johnston is a skilled and experienced endoscopist. He cares deeply about the comfort, safety and dignity of his patients. He sees patients with all abdominal problems and gastrointestinal diagnoses. He provides compassionate, understanding care for all his patients and particular attention is paid to these during endoscopy procedures which he understands can be stressful for patients.

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Dr Amitabh Naik is a leading consultant gastroenterologist and endoscopist in Chertsey, Guildford, Great Missenden and High Wycombe who specialises in endoscopy of the GI tract, various aspects of clinical gastroenterology and hepatology. He is an expert in treating GI cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.  Dr Naik graduated with his medical degree from Mumbai University in 1994 before completing his MD in 1997. He went onto become a member of the Royal College of Physicians with whom he also completed a fellowship. He has undergone specialist training in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in France and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in Italy. Dr Naik is Co-Chair of the Surrey and Sussex Upper GI Cancer Alliance.

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Dr Jude Oben is a leading consultant gastroenterologist in London who also specialises in hepatology (liver medicine). His areas of interests across both specialties include endoscopy, obesity, abnormal liver function tests, Intra-gastric balloon, abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. Dr Oben has a PhD in Pharmacology from University College London. He studied Medicine at Oxford with a period at Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA, as a research fellow in Immunology. After Oxford, his initial Postgraduate Medical training was at the Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, followed by training in Ophthalmology (Eye Surgery). During his specialist medical registrar training, he re-oriented his research career with two years as a postdoctoral fellow at John Hopkins University, USA. At Johns Hopkins, Dr Oben combined his previous interest in neuroscience with liver medicine and with a particular focus on obesity-related liver disease. After his time at John Hopkins, he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in London to start independent research at University College London. He is currently an Associate Professor in Hepatology at University College London, Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, Royal Free Hospital, London. Dr Oben is a co-founder and Trustee of the Obesity Action launched at the House of Lords. The primary aim of Obesity Action is to raise political and public awareness of obesity and it’s health consequences. He is an invited member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity.

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Dr Mark Cox is a hugely experienced consultant gastroenterologist based in Birmingham at the Spire Little Aston Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and the Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull. He has a special interest in treating inflammatory bowel conditions, coeliac disease, hepatobiliary conditions and the use of therapeutic endoscopy. He has more than 20 years of experience and has performed more than 15,000 upper GI endoscopies and 5,000 colonoscopies in his time. Dr Cox has been involved in training, and is currently part of the training committee for  Gastroenterology in the West Midlands Deanery. He is widely published, and has contributed a lot to therapeutic endoscopy use in his region throughout his career in gastroenterology. He was also lead for upper GI cancer in Walsall and continues to chair the cancer services committee at Little Aston. He is actively involved in the clinical governance of endoscopic services in the Spire hospitals both Little Aston and Parkway.

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Dr Laith Al-Rubaiy is an award-winning consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist who is part of the GI Doctors group in London. He specialises in alcoholic liver disease, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, endoscopy, colonoscopy and diverticular bowel disease. After finishing medical school with "distinction", Dr Al-Rubaiy won two highly-competitive scholarships to complete his postgraduate medical studies at the State University of New York and then at King’s College London. He was then awarded a prestigious fellowship to pursue his clinical academic training in Wales, which lead to his accreditation in hepatology, gastroenterology and general medicine. Part of his advanced hepatology training was at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Dr Al-Rubaiy was awarded his PhD from Swansea University School of Medicine. He has received 12 grants and two highly-competitive scholarships throughout his medical career. He was awarded the " Young Gastroenterologist of the Year" by the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) in 2017. He is a reviewer for a number of international journals and has authored several peer-reviewed publications. Dr Al-Rubaiy is an elected committee member for the British Society of Gastroenterology.

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Mr Dhiren Nehra is a consultant general and gastrointestinal surgeon who sees patients at Ashtead Hospital and Spire St Anthony's Hospital in Surrey. His NHS practise is at Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, Surrey where he has worked since since 1999 with clinical sessions at both hospitals and outreach clinics in Epsom Old Cottage, Cobham, Dorking Hospitals. Mr Nehra graduated in 1983 from Sion Medical College - affiliated to the University of Bombay - with an MS in General Surgery and underwent Higher Training in Wales, specialising in Upper GI surgery. This culminated in an FRCS (Gen Surg) and MPhil Thesis on 'Bile Reflux in Barrett's Oesophagus'. Mr Nehra gained further experience at University Hospital California, Los Angeles where he spent a year training in the Foregut Unit under Dr Tom DeMeester, an eminent and renowned professor of surgery. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Mr Nehra's current clinical practise involves the provision of diagnostic service for cancer work and performing complex gastrointestinal and laparoscopic surgery. This includes gastroscopy (OGD) and colonoscopy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic LINX & Nissen/ Toupet anti-reflux procedure. Mr Nehra has acquired specialist expertise in the new LINX antireflux implant procedure and has the highest experience in the country having performed over 120 cases in the last 7 years. In a recent review of LINX procedure 91% of patients reported complete resolution of their reflux and 83 % were very satisfied with the outcome. Mr Nehra developed a mini-incision technique for the repair of groin and paraumbilical hernia which involves the use of double-layered prolene mesh. It is a 'walk in walk out' procedure and can be performed under local anaesthetic. Mr Nehra's general surgical practice includes most aspects of day-case general surgery (inguinal & incisional hernias, lumps and bumps, haemorrhoids, anal fissures and fistula, pilonidal sinus, lumps and skin lesions etc.).

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Professor Stuart Bloom is a gastroenterologist based in London. He is an expert in inflammatory bowel disease, as well as the management of irritable bowel syndrome and food intolerance. He leads the inflammatory bowel disease clinic at University College London Hospitals, where he has worked as a consultant since 1996. Professor Bloom is the Senior Author of the current British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) guidelines for managing Colitis and Crohn’s disease, published in 2010. He was chair of the UK clinical research network in Gastroenterology from 2008-2013. He is currently chair of the UK IBD registry. Professor Stuart Bloom is also an accredited bowel cancer screening colonoscopist, with a low rate of complications during colonoscopies. He has been recognised for his expertise and contributions to medicine in his field (The Leslie Parrott Prize from the National Association of Crohn’s and Colitis (1994), the President's medal from the British Society of Gastroenterology (2013)).

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Dr Mark Austin is an experienced consultant gastroenterologist based in Brighton, Hove and Haywards Heath. He is an expert in the investigation and management of gastrointestinal problems, including abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS), hiatal hernias and food intolerances. He also specialises in hepatology, caring for patients with liver disease, hepatitis and jaundice. Before working as a consultant, Dr Austin spent six years at the Liver Unit at Kings College Hospital treating patients who had undergone live transplantation. Here he also completed his research on the survival characteristics of patients with end-stage liver disease. Dr Austin is a very advanced interventional endoscopist, carrying out all variations on endoscopy, including colonoscopy, ERCP, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and gastroscopy. These allow Dr Austin to achieve a very close examination of the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts and digestive tract. Additional to being a consultant, he is also the Clinical Lead for endoscopy at his NHS posting. Dr Austin is very committed to putting his patients first, and most recently he has enabled a much improved referral pathway for rapid access and diagnosis for patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms. Dr Mark Austin is keenly involved in teaching, acting as director for the annual South East endoscopy symposium, as well as taking time out of his busy schedule to train and teach endoscopy skills to other doctors in both the UK and overseas.

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Dr Ravi Misra is a highly trained consultant gastroenterologist based at St Mark's Hospital; an internationally recognized hospital in London. His areas of expertise include the diagnosis and management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bloating, reflux, bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and abdominal pain. He is an expert in colonoscopy and gastroscopy. He qualified from Imperial College London in 2005 and undertook specialist training in the North West Thames London rotation. He has completed a fellowship in advanced endoscopy at St Mark’s Hospital and is skilled at diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. He took time out of his training to pursue a PhD on the impact of ethnicity on epidemiology, metabolic and microbial profiling. Dr Misra devotes his career to research as well as highly professional and personalised patient care. He has collaborated with the Centre for Digestive Health at Imperial College to study how the microbiome changes in IBD. Furthermore, he has an interest in the impact of diet in newly diagnosed patients with IBD. His research has provided the opportunity to present at international conferences and publish articles in renowned peer-reviewed journals. 

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Dr Christos Toumpanakis is one of London's leading consultant gastroenterologists practising at the Royal Free Hospital London. He is also an honorary Associate Professor at University College London (UCL) and has won the 'Top-Teacher of the Year' Award on five different occasions. His sub-specialty is neuroendocrine tumours and he is considered to be one of the international experts in the field.  He also specialises in coeliac disease, dyspepsia, gastro-oesophageal reflux, bowel disease including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastrointestinal endoscopy as well as gastro-intestinal problems of patients with congenital immuno-deficiencies. He has lectured at several international conferences and has published numerous papers and reviews. He is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS), co-editor of ENETS CME program, co-author of ENETS & UK & Ireland NET Guidelines, as well as member of the Advisory Board of the UK NET patients’ foundation. He leads a NET Clinical Research Group and his main research interests include novel biomarkers and molecular imaging in NETs, mesenteric fibrosis, and carcinoid heart disease.

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Professor Shahid A Khan is a leading Consultant Physician based in London who sees patients at  The London Clinic,  BMI The Clementine Churchill Hospital and the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital, London. He specialises in Hepatology & Gastroenterology and treats various conditions relating to Liver disease and Gastroenterology. He is a Professor of Practice in Hepatology at Imperial College London, having been appointed as a consultant there in 2007. Professor Khan also has specialist accreditation in General Internal Medicine. He qualified from Guy's Hospital Medical School in 1994 and underwent house-officer posts at Greenwich District Hospital and Guy's Hospital. Professor Khan trained as a senior house officer at Hammersmith, Charing Cross, St Thomas', and West Middlesex Hospitals. He then went on to become a Specialist Registrar in Gastroenterology. Between 1999 and 2002 he was a Clinical Research Fellow at Imperial College London. He was awarded a PhD from the University of London in 2003 for his studies in liver cancer. Professor Khan completed his senior gastroenterology and specialist Hepatology training at St Mary's Hospital and University College Hospital in London. Professor Khan became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2010. He has since been running a general hepatology and gastroenterology service and founded a dedicated clinic for decompensated cirrhotic patients and also for primary liver cancer. He is also the academic and clinical lead for liver cancer and is a designated endoscopy trainer. Professor Khan is a certified Royal College of Physicians Educator and teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates. He was the Course Director of the Gastroenterology & Hepatology BSc programme at Imperial College London for several years and is currently the Director of Admissions and Inclusivity for Imperial College School of Medicine. He has received several Teaching Awards at Imperial College London. He also speaks Urdu and Hindu fluently.

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Professor Pradeep Bhandari is a leading gastroenterologist based in Portsmouth and London. He specialises in management of a range of Gastrointestinal conditions including early cancers, Barrett's oesophagus, acid reflux, Irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, peptic ulcers, rectal bleeding and obesity, amongst other conditions. He is an expert in advanced endoscopic procedures, including early diagnosis of cancers and endoscopic resections for cancers. He also provides screenings for gastrointestinal cancers. He serves as Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Portsmouth and has been the Chair of the British Society of Gastroenterologists (BSG) Cancer Group. He currently holds the Research chair of European society of Gastrointestinal endoscopy (ESGE).  He completed a visiting fellowship in Tokyo, working at one of the world's leading endoscopy units at the National Cancer Centre, where new endoscopic techniques were being developed for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. The skills he learnt there have enabled him to influence practices of diagnosis, screening, surveillance and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers here in the UK. Professor Bhandari is a member of a number of key organisations in his field, including the British Medical Association (BMA), Royal college of Physicians, European society of gastrointestinal endoscopy and American society of gastrointestinal endoscopy. He received the Hopkins Endoscopy Award from the British Society of Gastroenterology for technical innovation in the field of endoscopy, and the Crystal Award from the American Gastroenterology Association for research in early cancer diagnosis, both in 2013.

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Dr Amit Gera is a leading gastroenterologist in London who specialises in liver disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, acid reflux and colonoscopy. Dr Gera qualified with distinction from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of medicine in 2000. Between 2003 until 2011, he undertook his specialist training in gastroenterology in London and South East Thames. Dr Gera undertook a research fellowship at the Liver Unit in King’s College Hospital and gained advanced training in liver disease, viral hepatitis, transplantation and critical care. He has accreditation in gastroenterology, hepatology and general medicine.   Dr Gera has been the Training Programme Director for the prestigious South Thames Gastroenterology training scheme and has run the regional gastroenterology teaching programme. He is the Lead Clinician for Upper GI Cancer and runs the viral hepatitis service for Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

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Dr Daniel Forton is a respected London-based consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist. Specialising in diseases of the liver and gastrointestinal system, he holds appointments at St George's University Hospital and Medical School. His special interests include the medical and endoscopic management of diseases of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts. He is a skilled endoscopist, performing diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, including ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) in addition to upper GI endoscopy and colonoscopy. He maintains a busy practice, always aiming to make his patients feel comfortable whilst offering them the most up to date and effective care possible. He is motivated to accurately understand symptoms in order to move rapidly to the correct diagnosis and treatment. He is often asked to give second opinions. Dr Forton qualified in medicine at University College London in 1993 and then undertook specialist training in London teaching hospitals and performed important scientific research and clinical trials in the area of viral hepatitis. After gaining his PhD at Imperial College London, he was appointed a Consultant in 2005 and now has many years of experience in managing both common and complex clinical conditions. He takes a special clinical interest in abnormal liver function tests, fatty liver, alcohol-related liver disease, cirrhosis, Fibroscan, liver and pancreatic cancer and viral hepatitis. He also treats indigestion, bowel symptoms, colonic polyps and investigates gastrointestinal cancer. Currently Associate Medical Director for Research at St Georges Hospital and reader in hepatology, he publishes extensively in peer-reviewed journals and lectures at international meetings. He was awarded the Dame Sheila Sherlock Research Medal for his research in liver disease. Dr Forton is a keen advocate of evidence-based medicine and continues to be a leading investigator in clinical trials of novel treatments in a range of liver diseases.  He is a founding partner at the London Gastroenterology Partnership and consults privately at Parkside Hospital and Spire St Anthony's, all in London. He complies with insurance company fee schedules.

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Dr Owen Woghiren is a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in London and Chipping Barnet, who holds a special interest in endoscopy, gastrointestinal infections and inflammatory bowel disease. He performs over 1000 colonoscopies and gastroscopies a year and has above standard completion rates, and low complication rates and discomfort scores. Dr Woghiren also treats helicobacter, lactose intolerance and small bowel overgrowth. He uses video capsule endoscopy and oesophageal manometry, and pH testing for severe reflux and ‘acid’ disorders.

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Professor Aftab Ala is a renowned consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist, specialising in gastroscopy, endoscopy and colonoscopy and the management of complicated gastroenterology and hepatology problems, including liver transplant assessment and treatment of viral hepatitis. He led and managed a British Liver Trust recognised specialist Gastroenterology and Hepatology Service and Viral Hepatitis programme. Professor Aftab Ala trained in gastroenterology at King's College Hospital London, before being awarded a prestigious advanced hepatology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Alongside his clinical work, he is Professor of Hepatology at the University of Surrey, is an active member on numerous committees in his field, and has published many peer-reviewed medical articles.

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Dr John Martin graduated from Cambridge University and King’s College Hospital, London in 1990 and completed his gastroenterology training within North West London.  He is a highly-experienced gastroenterologist and endoscopist based in London and holds an NHS Consultant post at Imperial College (ICL).  He is an expert in colorectal cancer screening, therapeutic and diagnostic colonoscopy and has 25 years experience of managing all aspects of gastroenterology including abdominal pain or discomfort, reflux disease, diarrhoea and constipation, rectal bleeding, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Dr Martin teaches colonoscopy both within the  NHS Trust and also at national screening centres. He is a bowel cancer screening accredited colonoscopist and an examiner for BCSP colonoscopy accreditation. Dr Martin is Director of the West London Bowel Cancer Screening Centre, he is the national advisor to Public Health England on endoscopy within the Bowel Cancer screening service and chairs the national advisory committee on quality and safety of endoscopy within screening. He forms an integral part of numerous other professional bodies and has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals.

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