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Staff Profile

Professor Vinidh Paleri

Visiting Professor

Background


My clinical practice is almost entirely devoted to benign and malignant diseases of the head and neck. I am one of the few surgeons in the United Kingdom with expertise in Transoral Robotic Surgery and Transoral Laser Microsurgery for head and neck cancers.

Esteem indicators:

1. I chair the group that will set out the academic programme for the 12th international British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology, to be held in July 2018. This is the second largest meeting for the specialty in the world, usually attended by 1200 to 1500 delegates. 

2. Since 2009, I have been an invited speaker at 42 meetings and at 19 international meetings (11 as plenary/keynote speaker).

3. I am an Associate Editor for Head and Neck, the top ranked journal in my field (IF=3.006), on the editorial board for the Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology (IF=1.054; ranked 26th in field) and Senior Reviews Editor for the Journal of Laryngology and Otology (IF=0.7; 34th in field), one of the oldest journals in the field (est. 1887). I also peer review for 4 other leading journals in the specialty.

4. As a panel member for the intervention procedures panel of the Health Technology and Assessment funding stream of the NIHR, and member of Head and Neck Clinical Studies Group, National Cancer Research Institute, I regularly peer review and grade research applications.

5. I serve in several national roles in the field of head and neck surgery

6. I have organised 4 national head and neck meetings, all of which have been highly rated within the multiprofessional groups involved in head and neck cancer management.

Engagement and leadership:

1. ENT Head and Neck Society (the head and neck group of the British Association of Otolaryngologists-Head and Neck Surgeons): Secretary,  2009 to date

2. Otorhinolaryngologic Research Society: Treasurer  2011 to 2013

3. NIHR Health Technology Assessment: Member of Interventional Procedures Panel. 2013 to date

4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: Invited member of Guidance Development Group for Head and Neck Cancer. 2013 to 2014

5. Member of Head and Neck Clinical Studies Group, National Cancer Research Institute (http://ncrndev.org.uk/). 2010 to date

6. British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists: Member of council. 2013 to date

7. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: Representative of the British Association of Otolaryngologists-Head and Neck Surgeons for Health Technology Appraisal

8. Royal College of Surgeons of England: Expert reviewer and Member of Interim Review panel. 2012 to date

9. Member of International Head and Neck scientific group (www.ihnsg.com)

Research

My research portfolio is primarily comprised of clinical trials in head and neck cancer as this fits in with my clinical workload. I am the Chief Investigator for the TUBE randomised clinical trial (ISRCTN48569216) funded by the NIHR (£373K). I am the lead for the surgical arm of the recently funded CompARE trial (CRUK/13/026). I have developed strong links with other research groups within the University by commencing novel collaborative work (Institute of Human Genetics). The funding I secured to complete a pilot trial on voice outcomes has been highly cited, and helped design further trials (published in Head and Neck IF=3.06; 1st in field).

My research output is exemplified by 71 peer reviewed publications (all on head and neck oncology) since 2009. These include 20 original articles, 10 systematic reviews, 26 review articles, 6 consensus statements 3 editorials, 5 letters and 1 case report. About 80% are published in the journals with the highest impact factors in the specialty, including 4 in the British Medical Journal.




Teaching

Following the expertise Newcastle has developed in Transoral Robotic Surgery, I am the only surgeon in the UK to offer training for this procedure at fellowship level.

I have conceived, organised and continue to run the "Newcastle Head and Neck Dissection Course" for 6 years with an international faculty and delegates. With excellent course feedback year on year, this template is now used to teach higher surgical trainees in the region. For 2 years, I have also conceived, developed and run the national head and neck course for advanced Head and Neck Interface Fellows (from 3 surgical specialties: Otolaryngology-Head and Neck, Oral & Maxillofacial and Plastic & Reconstructive) in the UK.

I am editor for the section on "Head and Neck Disease" for the forthcoming 8th edition of Scott-Brown's Otolaryngology, the leading multi-volume multi-author textbook in the specialty in the world. With over 70 chapter submissions from an international authorship group, editing is well underway. The book planned for publication in July 2015.

I co-edited the 4th edition of the national "Head and Neck Cancer: Multidisciplinary Management Guidelines" (Sept 2011). With 38 chapters written by 127 authors, it is endorsed by the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists and British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons. Also available in electronic format with enabled web links (https://entuk.org/professionals/publications), this will support the delivery of evidence based practice across the UK for the next 3-4 years. Work is underway with 90% of contributions for the 5th edition submitted.

Regular invitations as instructor at surgical courses in the UK and abroad (26 in the last 5 years) are testament to the quality of my teaching and this is supported by objective feedback scores. Since introducing the outpatient transnasal oesophagoscopy service to NUTH, I have one of the largest series in the country and I was invited to hold live demonstrations of this procedure over 3 days at an international meeting in 2012. I am currently working towards further outpatient assessment innovations in Newcastle namely narrow band imaging and an increasing spectrum of outpatient interventions including biopsy of the upper aerodigestive tract. As well as improving the timeliness and cost effectiveness of patient pathways, such developments offer increased opportunity for regular assessment and for example brush biopsy in patients with dysplasia and similar low-grade lesions.

I believe that writing high impact reviews play a very important educational role in helping busy clinicians stay up to date. Almost all my review papers have been written for some of the highest impact journals in my field. For instance, my paper on management of dry mouth (Clinical Otolaryngology IF=2.4; 2nd in field) was the 2nd most downloaded article (927 times) for 2010-11 and the full text of my paper on oral ulcer diagnosis in the BMJ (IF=14.1) was read over 3500 times in the first year of publication.


Publications