Director of Surgical Education and Sub-Dean of the St Mark’s Academic Institute

Mr Akash Mehta is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at St Mark’s Hospital in London, United Kingdom. He qualified in Medicine at Leiden University in Leiden, the Netherlands and subsequently trained in surgery at VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam, with an elective rotation in Surgical Oncology at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He successfully completed senior clinical fellowships in advanced colorectal surgery at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam (peritoneal malignancy, advanced and recurrent colorectal cancer), the Peritoneal Malignancy Institute Basingstoke (peritoneal malignancy) and finally worked as MiMICC (Minimally and Maximally Invasive Colorectal Cancer) Fellow and Resident Surgical Officer at St Mark’s Hospital. As MiMICC Fellow he was a key member of the team successfully establishing the St Mark’s peritoneal malignancy programme (offering cytoreductive surgery + HIPEC to patients with peritoneal metastases of colorectal cancer).

Akash was appointed as Consultant Colorectal and Intestinal Failure Surgeon in 2019. His primary clinical interests are Intestinal Failure & Rehabilitation Surgery, surgery for enteric fistulae and complex abdominal wall pathology as well as the management of serious complications of previous abdominal surgery. He has set up and is the lead for the St Mark’s regional Abdominal Wall MDT and has successfully established a minimally invasive (robotic) abdominal wall surgery programme.

Akash is the author of a series of 11 books covering the Dutch medical school curriculum; and is editor and one of the main authors of A Practical Guide to Peritoneal Malignancy: The PMI Manual. He is associate editor for the 2nd edition of Intestinal Failure. He has authored and co-authored numerous book chapters and papers in peer reviewed journals. He is also the Director of Education and Sub-Dean of the St Mark’s Academic Institute.

Akash’ main research and management interests include distal limb feeding (enteroclysis and fistuloclysis) as pre-operative optimisation of defunctioned bowel, outcome measurements in complex abdominal wall reconstruction, prevention and management of perineal hernias, prehabilitation of patients undergoing complex abdominal surgery and quality improvement of healthcare processes (Akash is a graduate of the LNWUH NHS Trust Improvement Fellowship Training Programme). He is a member of the Abdominal Wall Subcommittee and the Intestinal Failure Subcommittee of the Association of Coloproctologists of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI), of BAPEN Medical, and of the Research Subcommittee of the Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association; and is co-supervisor of the St Mark’s Intestinal Rehabilitation Surgery Fellowship.