Qualifications: BSc (1974), MBChB (1977), MD (1983), FRCSEd (GB Ong Gold Medal) (1984), FRCSEng (1995), FCS Hong Kong (1995), FRCPE (2012)
Clinical Areas of Interest: Service provision and quality of care
Regional Chapter: Scotland
Biography
Professor Robert Steele obtained his initial surgical and academic training in Edinburgh, Hong Kong and Aberdeen and was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Nottingham in 1990. He was then appointed Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Dundee in 1996 and as Professor of Surgery and Head of Academic Surgery in 2003. His initial research interests were in breast cancer, and working for Professor Sir Patrick Forrest, he developed the concept of axillary nodal sampling. In Hong Kong, his interest shifted to upper gastrointestinal disease and he was instrumental in introducing endoscopic haemostasis for bleeding peptic ulcer. In Nottingham, working for Professor Jack Hardcastle, he became involved with the early trials of colorectal cancer screening, and, since then, colorectal cancer has remained his primary clinical and academic interest. He has carried out work in surgery and radiotherapy for colorectal cancer, and in area of the genetic and chromosomal abnormalities that underlie the disease. His main interest, however, is in Colorectal Cancer Screening. Having led the UK demonstration pilot that was used to inform the decision to introduce national screening programmes throughout the United Kingdom, he is at present the Clinical Director of the Scottish Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme, and has published extensively in this area. He has chaired several NHS QIS groups related to colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer screening and he chaired the SIGN group that developed the latest set of colorectal cancer guidelines. He is currently a member of Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh editor of “The Surgeon”. He is co-founder and co-director of the Scottish Cancer Prevention Network and chairs the Board of Directors of the Scottish Cancer Foundation, and has recently been elected President-in-Waiting of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland