GURI SANDHU

As a child Professor Sandhu lived and went to school in West London. He trained in Medicine at The London Hospital Medical College from 1985 to 1990 and aspired to follow a career in surgery. His ‘House Officer’ training was at The Royal London and Newham General Hospitals. Following this he spent some time teaching anatomy to medical students at Queen Mary and Westfield college, part of the University of London. This allowed him to pass his primary Fellowship (surgical exam), the first hurdle to becoming a surgeon.

Having spent much of his early life in London, and with the aim of broadening his experience, he was successful in obtaining a ‘Senior House Officer’ Rotation in Surgery in Stoke-on-Trent. This included training in emergency medicine, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, plastic surgery and ENT surgery. This exposure to different surgical disciplines provided a broad grounding in surgical skills and knowledge, and culminated in a pass in the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in Surgery (FRCS) in 1994. Doctor Sandhu was then given the honour of calling himself Mr Sandhu, as is the custom in England, out of respect for the ‘Barber Surgeons’ of the Middle Ages.

Doctors chose their career paths based on the areas of medicine that interest them, but equally a doctor may choose to follow a particular path because a senior colleague, in that speciality, has been inspirational. For both these reasons a career in ENT was chosen and Mr Sandhu returned to London to start his Registrar training in ENT. The training was centred around the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital (RNTNE) but included Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Mr Sandhu finished his training shortly after passing the Intercollegiate Fellowship Examination on Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery FRCS (ORL-HNS) in 2001. This training was comprehensive, covering all conditions affecting the ear, nose and throat. Many of his teachers who were leaders in their respective fields.

Mr Sandhu envisaged a career with a special interest in ears (otology), but towards the end of his training he worked with another inspirational teacher, Professor David Howard. Prof Howard persuaded him that conditions of the throat, ‘voice box’ and airway (laryngology) were where his skills would make the greatest difference to patients. Consultant posts at the RNTNE and Charing Cross Hospital (part of Imperial College Healthcare) followed in 2003. Working at Charing Cross also included sessions at Chelsea & Westminster and The Royal Brompton Hospitals.

There was no dedicated Laryngology Service at Charing Cross hospital in 2003 and Mr Sandhu gradually built the profile of this department, and it is now the largest adult airway service in Europe, acquiring the title National Centre for Airway Reconstruction. He has achieved national and international standing and made outstanding contributions to the field of Laryngology.

As well as a full time surgeon Mr Sandhu has been a keen teacher. He regularly teaches medical students, junior doctors and colleagues both in his own institutes and across the World. He has an active research programme and has the largest personal series in the World of rare laryngeal diseases such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis and mucous membrane pemphigoid. He has pioneered and published minimally invasive approaches to airway diseases that have turned around traditional concepts of laryngeal surgery, and reduced the morbidity and hospital stay for my patients. He has hosted teams of visitors at his hospitals from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland clinic, Vanderbilt and many from Europe and Asia who have come to see his pioneering work. 

His unit has grown by reputation to become a national referral centre for the assessment and management of swallowing and voice problems in both adults and children. This has been made possible by developing a multidisciplinary team around him. As a result most patients receive their treatment following discussion and agreement in multidisciplinary team meetings.

In 2011 Mr Sandhu was awarded Doctor of Medicine by Research (MD) by University College London. This was for research related to the management of laryngotracheal stenosis. His research interest continue and he has over 150 peer-reviewed research papers, written numerous book chapters and three medical textbooks. He now supervises PhD students with their research. 

He co-founded the British Laryngological Association in 2011, a charity dedicated to achieve advancements in laryngology for the benefit of the public through research, education and training.

In 2021 Guri Sandhu was awarded a clinical Professorship, in Laryngology, by Imperial College London for internationally recognised excellence in his field. There are many other honours. He has held a NHS National clinical excellence award since 2012. He is the only ENT surgeon made Honorary Fellow to The Royal Academy of Music (hon FRAM) for services to, and education in, the professional voice. He has also been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (hon FRCSLT).

Professor Sandhu has been President of The Royal Society of Medicine section of Laryngology and Rhinology form 2020 to 2021 and President to the British Laryngological Association 2021 to 2023.