Professor Hisham Mehanna PhD, BMedSc, MBChB, FRCS, FRCS(ORL-HNS)

Professor Hisham Mehanna

Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (interdisciplinary research)
Director, Institute for Global Innovation and Institute for Advanced Studies
Director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education (InHANSE)

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 8753
Email
h.mehanna@bham.ac.uk
PA: Gemma Jones
g.jones@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@inhanseresearch
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education
Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
Robert Aitken Building
Vincent Drive
University of Birmingham
Birmingham B15 2TT

Professor Hisham Mehanna is the chair of head and neck surgery, and is the Director of the Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education (InHANSE) at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

Hisham is a head and neck and thyroid surgeon with clinical interests in recurrence in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He has a keen interest in clinical and translational research, heading a research team of 20 researchers, and holding over £15million in research grants. His research has changed clinical practice across the world. 

His experience of multi-disciplinary research in the field of cancer biology and treatment has made him a strong proponent of multi- and inter- disciplinary research, as the way to provide new insights and approaches to address intractable global challenges. 

As Deputy PVC, Hisham has responsibility for promoting interdisciplinary research across the University. Also as Director of the Institute for Global Innovation (IGI) and the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), Hisham strives to ensure that the Institutes inspire, support and deliver world-leading, multi- and inter-disciplinary research that seeks to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, that affect humanity at a global level. The IGI’s research themes revolve around the factors that challenge, and sometimes threaten, the sustainability and resilience of individuals, communities, countries and the world as a whole. Themes include resilient cities, water challenges in a changing world, clean cooling, pollution solutions, antimicrobial resistance, ageing and frailty, gender inequality, artificial intelligence and 21st century transnational crime. 

Qualifications

  • PhD, Assessment of Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancers. Erasmus University 2010
  • FRCS (ORL-HNS) 2002
  • FRCS Glasgow 1998
  • MBChB (Hons)  University of Glasgow 1994
  • B.Med.Sc (Hons) University of Kuwait 1990 

Teaching

Hisham runs several post graduate courses and meetings, including the international biennial ‘Controversies in the management of head and neck cancer’ meeting. He also serves on the organising committee of several large international conferences, and has served on faculty of many conferences and courses. He is currently the Academic Chair for the British Academic Conference of Otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (BACO International) 2021.

Postgraduate supervision

Hisham supervises several PhD, Masters and intercalating BSc students, in topics ranging from translational research to bioinformatics to clinical research

Other activities

  • Chair, Head and Neck Cancer International Group, 2019-present 
  • Council Member, University of Birmingham, 2015-2019
  • President, British Association of Head Neck Oncologists, 2017-2019
  • Secretary, Head and Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG), 2016-2020
  • Chair, UK’s National Cancer Research Institute Head and Neck Group, 2012-2018

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Cavalieri, S, Vener, C, LeBlanc, M, Lopez-Perez, L, Fico, G, Resteghini, C, Monzani, D, Marton, G, Pravettoni, G, Moreira-Soares, M, Filippidou, DE, Almeida, A, Bilbao, A, Mehanna, H, Singer, S, Thomas, S, Lacerenza, L, Manfuso, A, Copelli, C, Mercalli, F, Frigessi, A, Martinelli, E, Licitra, L, BD4QoL Consortium & Nankivell, P 2023, 'A multicenter randomized trial for quality of life evaluation by noninvasive intelligent tools during post-curative treatment follow-up for head and neck cancer: clinical study protocol', Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 13, 1048593. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1048593

Dretzke, J, Chaudri, T, Balaji, R, Mehanna, H, Nankivell, P, Moore, DJ & the PETNECK2 Research Team 2023, 'A systematic review of the effectiveness of patient‐initiated follow‐up after cancer', Cancer Medicine, vol. 12, no. 18, pp. 19057-19071. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.6462

Wilson, JA, O'Hara, J, Fouweather, T, Homer, T, Stocken, DD, Vale, L, Haighton, C, Rousseau, N, Wilson, R, McSweeney, L, Wilkes, S, Morrison, J, MacKenzie, K, Ah-See, K, Carrie, S, Hopkins, C, Howe, N, Hussain, M, Mehanna, H, Raine, C, Sullivan, F, von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, A & Teare, MD 2023, 'Conservative management versus tonsillectomy in adults with recurrent acute tonsillitis in the UK (NATTINA): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial', The Lancet, vol. 401, no. 10393, pp. 2051-2059. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00519-6

Mehanna, H, Rapozo, D, Zeidler, SVV, Harrington, K, Winter, S, Hartley, A, Nankivell, P, Schache, A, Sloan, P, Odell, E, Thavaraj, S, Hunter, K, Shah, K, Thomas, G, Long, A, Amel-Kashipaz, R, Brown, R, Conn, B, Hall, G, Matthews, P, Weir, J, Yeo, Y, Pring, M, West, C, McCaul, J, Golusinski, P, Sitch, A, Spruce, R, Batis, N, Bryant, J, Brooks, J, Jones, TM, Buffa, F, Haider, S & Robinson, M 2023, 'Developing and validating a multivariable prognostic-predictive classifier for treatment escalation of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: the PREDICTR-OPC study', Clinical Cancer Research. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-1013

Mahmood, H, Shephard, A, Hankinson, P, Bradburn, M, Araujo, ALD, Santos-Silva, AR, Lopes, MA, Vargas, PA, McCombe, KD, Craig, SG, James, J, Brooks, J, Nankivell, P, Mehanna, H, Rajpoot, N & Khurram, SA 2023, 'Development and validation of a multivariable model for prediction of malignant transformation and recurrence of oral epithelial dysplasia', British Journal of Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02438-0

PETNECK2 Research Team 2023, 'Development of the ‘ACT now & check-it-out’ intervention to support patient-initiated follow up for Head and Neck cancer patients', Patient Education and Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.108033

Matheson, L, Greaves, C, Duda, JL, Wells, M, Secher, D, Rhodes, P, Lorenc, A, Jepson, M, Ozakinci, G, Watson, E, Fulton-Lieuw, T, Mittal, S, Main, B, Nankivell, P, Mehanna, H & Brett, J 2024, 'Development of the ‘ACT now & check-it-out’ intervention to support patient-initiated follow up for Head and Neck cancer patients', Patient Education and Counseling, vol. 119, 108033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.108033

Payne, K, Brooks, J, Batis, N, Khan, N, El-Asrag, M, Nankivell, P, Mehanna, H & Taylor, G 2023, 'Feasibility of mass cytometry proteomic characterisation of circulating tumour cells in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma for deep phenotyping', British Journal of Cancer, vol. 129, no. 10, pp. 1590-1598. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02428-2

Califano, J, Yousef, A, Mostafa, H, Valsamakis, A, Zhang, X, Batis, N, Varghese, C, Parish, J, Forman, M, Jarrett, J, Messer, K & Mehanna, H 2023, 'Lead Time to Recurrence After Posttreatment Plasma and Saliva HPV DNA Testing in Patients With Low-Risk HPV Oropharynx Cancer', JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, vol. 149, no. 9, pp. 812-819. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2023.1730

Giuliano, AR, Felsher, M, Waterboer, T, Mirghani, H, Mehanna, H, Roberts, C, Chen, Y-T, Lynam, M, Pedrós, M, Sanchez, E, Sirak, B, Surati, S, Alemany, L, Morais, E & Pavón, MA 2023, 'Oral Human Papillomavirus Prevalence and Genotyping Among a Healthy Adult Population in the US', JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2023.1573

DETERMIN Study Management Group 2023, 'Patient preference for commonly‐used, head and neck cancer‐specific quality of life questionnaires in the follow‐up setting (Determin): A multi‐centre randomised controlled trial and mixed methods study', Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 613-622. https://doi.org/10.1111/coa.14054

Mehanna, H, Nankivell, P, Batis, N & Brooks, J 2023, 'Prognostic Implications of p16 and HPV discordance in oropharyngeal cancer: a multicenter, multinational (HNCIG-EPIC-OPC) individual patient data analysis', The Lancet Oncology, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 239-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00013-X

the PETNECK2 Research Team 2023, 'Systematic review of patients’ and healthcare professionals’ views on patient‐initiated follow‐up in treated cancer patients', Cancer Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.6243

Preprint

Shephard, AJ, Bashir, RMS, Mahmood, H, Jahanifar, M, Minhas, F, Raza, SEA, McCombe, KD, Craig, SG, James, J, Brooks, J, Nankivell, P, Mehanna, H, Khurram, SA & Rajpoot, NM 2023 'A Fully Automated and Explainable Algorithm for the Prediction of Malignant Transformation in Oral Epithelial Dysplasia'.

Review article

Henson, C, Abou-Foul, A, Nankivell, P & Mehanna, H 2023, 'Diagnostic challenges and prognostic implications of extranodal extension in head and neck cancer: A state of the art review and gap analysis', Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 13, 1263347. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1263347

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

  • Head and Neck Cancer
  • Global Development and Research