Daniel Leff
Daniel is a Professor of Breast Surgery, working in the Departments of BioSurgery and Surgical Technology, the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and the Cancer Research UK Centre at Imperial College London. He is also a Consultant in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery working within the Breast Unit at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Daniel trained at several centres of excellence in oncoplastic breast cancer and reconstructive breast surgery including the Imperial Breast Unit, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. He holds a Masters of Surgery Degree in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery, in which he won the “Issac Gukas Medal” for outstanding achievement. He was competitively selected for a National Training Fellowship (one of only nine such posts in the UK) and completed Advanced Oncoplastic Breast Surgery training at the St Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, as well as the Breast Unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.
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Daniel leads a team whose main research goals are to improve the precision of breast surgery, optimising the sequence of therapy and enhancing convalescence following breast cancer treatment. He isthe Chief Investigator of the NIHR-HTA funded, pan-UK, multicentre “PRADA II Trial” which seeks to find out whether reversing the sequence of radiation therapy improves breast related quality of life for women undergoing mastectomy and reconstruction using their own body tissues [Website link: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/department-surgery cancer/research/surgery/clinical-trials/pradaii/].
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Daniel is also the Co-Lead on the CRUK funded “REI-EXCISE” trial which seeks to validate a mass-spectrometry based intelligent knife or “iKnife” as an immediate margin detection system to improve the precision of breast conserving surgery, reduce re-operative intervention, and enhance quality of life. He leads a UK wide team working on a CRUK-EPSRC funded project “MAMMOBOT” to design a flexible growing ductoscopic robot for early breast cancer detection. Daniel co-chaired the “Precision Therapy” theme of Imperial’s CRUK Centre and represents cancer surgery for the Imperial ECMC. Daniel led a major national quality improvement initiative investigating Mastitis and Mammary Abscess Management (“MAMMA”) http://mammastudy.com/, and is the Chief Investigator of the NIHR-RfPB funded MAMMA-VAD trial investigating the role of vacuum treatment for breast abscess.
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Daniel has published over 200 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals on subjects relating to the application of surgical technologies, sensing and robotics to improve cancer surgery. Daniel’s research has won national and international recognition, including the Hounsfield Prize, British Journal of Surgery Prize (ABS), Patey Prize (SARS), Sir Pat Forrest Award (BBG), Parasuraman Award, Athanasiou Medal (ABME), and the young scientist award nomination at MICCAI. He has attracted funding from Industry (Waters Corp, Hitachi Medical Corp, Samantree, and Stryker), the Academy of Medical Sciences and Wellcome Trust, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Association of Breast Surgery, Cancer Research UK, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
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He has delivered a number of key-note named lectureships including “McGuire Lecture in Surgical Oncology”(Queens University, Kingston, Canada). Daniel won the Ronald Raven Prize Travelling Fellowship to learn from experts in Breast Cancer and Reconstructive Surgery at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the forefront Cancer Center in USA, and the “Price Thomas Fellowship” of the Travelling Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. More recently, he was competitively selected for the highly prestigious James IV Travelling Association of Surgeons, a scheme that only supports future leaders in surgery.