Matthew Harris

What is your background?

I am a General Surgery Registrar and completed my general medical school training at Hull York Medical School in 2016. Over the last decade of clinical practice, I’ve focused on becoming an academic bariatric and upper gastrointestinal surgeon. This is essentially a specialist who performs weight-loss procedures, such as gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy, as well as general operations on the oesophagus, stomach, alongside time for research.

After medical school, I worked at North Manchester General Hospital and got involved in several quality improvement projects, cohort studies and clinical audits and had some great mentorship there. This is where my interest in research and academia really began.

While working full-time during my surgical training in Liverpool, I decided to study a part-time Master’s degree in Surgical Innovation at Imperial College London. The degree was great and I got to learn more about research methodologies, systematic reviews and clinical research practices.

My experience during my Master’s degree confirmed that I wanted an academic element to my career as a clinician and then began to do a fair bit of networking and presenting research findings at different conferences. There’s a great general surgery network in the North West and eventually I was introduced to Professor Andrew Renahan at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre. I visited Professor Renahan’s lab in Manchester and learnt more about the research themes, on obesity and cancer, which then led me to applying to a Clinical PhD project in his group three years ago.

What is the aim of your research?

My PhD is funded by Cancer Research UK and is a collaboration between the MCRC and the Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit. It’s a cross-university supervision project with six multi-disciplinary supervisors. Professor Andrew Renahan, my main supervisor, is at The University of Manchester and is a Professor surgery. I have five other supervisors across the two Universities spanning research specialty across statistics, clinical trials, behavioural weight loss and cancer: Professors Harvie (UoM), French (UoM), Brown (UoL), Jayne (UoL) and Dr Wilson (UoL). The collaboration across sites and disciplines has been hugely helpful to expand my own skills and network across two prestigious units.

While my research group looks at the relationship between obesity and its effect on causing cancer, my specific research focus is the opposite: if you treat obesity, can you reverse the obesity-related cancer risk?

In a sentence, my PhD is about understanding the feasibility of a clinical trial using weight loss interventions to prevent obesity-related cancer. It involves a high level of optimisation and feasibility analysis before we can move into a real-world clinical trial application.

Why did you choose Manchester for your Clinical PhD?

The MCRC offers a unique “Team Science” environment. It brings together The Christie, The University of Manchester, and The Cancer Research UK Manchester Centre, allowing for collaboration across basic science and data science. My project is also cross-supervised by experts in Leeds and Manchester, which has been a fantastic way to bridge different disciplines like surgery, statistics, and behavioural and pharmacological weight loss interventions.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My days vary significantly. Most of my PhD work is data science based and at the minute I am writing up my data for my thesis. I am based in Manchester, in the Oglesby Cancer Research Building, and I spend a lot of time in the office with other Clinical and Non-Clinical PhD students, though I also travel to The University of Manchester or Leeds for meetings or seminars.

Although I am fully funded to focus on my PhD, I also occasionally do on-call shifts to keep my surgical skills sharp.

What has been the most rewarding part of your PhD so far?

I’ve really enjoyed communicating our findings and building international connections. My PhD project spans multiple disciplines – including surgery, oncology, and obesity management – which has allowed me to travel, meet inspiring researchers from different backgrounds, and gain skills in scientific communication. It has also led to me being elected to the board of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), which is a major international association.

I am also particularly proud of my work with patient groups, such as the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO), and involving people with lived experience in our research. We’ve worked hard to ensure our research uses non-stigmatising language, advocating for obesity to be recognised as a disease. A major highlight was being invited to the European Parliament to advocate for better obesity treatment at a policy level.

What has been the most challenging part of your PhD?

Doing a PhD requires excellent time management skills. When you’re starting your PhD, there’s an endless amount of reading and information you need to get through to understand the current literature in your area. This can be quite challenging for people who have come from a clinical background, like myself, who are used to working on assigned tasks for assigned shifts and hours. The self-directed learning and work is something that’s taken some getting used to.

What are your plans after you graduate?

I plan to submit my PhD in March and return to clinical work as a bariatric surgery trainee in April. Then I intend to apply for an Academic Clinical Lectureship (ACL). This will provide protected, funded time to continue my research in preventing obesity-related cancers with The University of Manchester, with the ultimate goal of becoming a clinician scientist.

How has the MCRC/ UoM supported your personal and professional development? 

I’ve found lots of opportunities through The University of Manchester to do further training and development. Being in a predominately data science lab, I used funding from my PhD stipend to attended a couple of courses for programming and machine learning in my first year of my PhD to help brush up my data analysis skills. The Clinical Trials Research Unit at The University of Leeds have got some amazing data scientists and they’ve been really helpful to speak to and troubleshoot things with.

Do you have any roles and responsibilities outside of your PhD?

I’m a Research Representative for the Division of Cancer Sciences. We run coffee mornings where people can talk about their research and any challenges they’re having. It’s nice to meet other PhD students from outside of your immediate lab group who can potentially help you look at a problem in a different way and share their tips and experience.

I’ve also been interested in robotics and their use in surgery for quite a while and have done some advocacy around the topic. I spent two years on the executive committee of the Association of Surgeons in Training which led to me being invited to a role within the Royal College of Surgeons of England as their Training Lead and have recently been involved in inputting in some of NHS England’s new guidelines for robotics surgery.

Do you have any advice for people who are considering applying for a PhD?

Reach out early. It is important to have a good working relationship with your lab supervisor and lab group before you apply. I recommend getting in touch with potential supervisors well in advance of applying so you understand the project, the background, and the setup before the interview process begins. The community here is incredibly supportive, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.