Professor Richard Skipworth

Appointments and Activities

Current

Professor Skipworth provides inpatient and day case general surgery (with a specialist interest in oesophagogastric surgery), elective and emergency endoscopy, and general surgery emergency cover. Prof Skipworth holds the post of NHS Research Scotland Clinician and he retains active collaborative research interests in the fields of cancer cachexia (the syndrome of muscle and fat wasting experienced by cancer patients), oesophagogastric malignancy and non-technical skills/human factors in surgery. Prof Skipworth is involved in the delivery and governance of robotic general surgery in NHS Lothian, especially using the Da Vinci Xi platform. Prof Skipworth is also actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education. He is a Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NoTSS) Instructor and is the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) Convener for such courses. He is an e-tutor for Edinburgh Surgery Online (ESO) and is the Year 1 Lead for the MSc in Patient Safety and Clinical Human Factors. He is Treasurer of the international Cancer Cachexia Society, and co-lead for the Caledonian Cachexia Collaborative, a consortium of Scottish universities involved in cachexia research. He is a reviewer for various medical and scientific journals.

Past

Prof Skipworth's pre-registration House Officer posts were undertaken in Edinburgh. He then trained for a year in London, as a Senior House Officer in Accident & Emergency, followed by an Anatomy Demonstrator post in Imperial College. The remainder of his Basic and Higher Surgical Training were undertaken in the South-East of Scotland. This training included a dedicated period of translational and clinical research, following which he was awarded a Doctorate of Medicine (with Distinction) from the University of Edinburgh. Between 2013 and 2014, he was awarded an international fellowship by ANZGOSA (Australian and New Zealand Gastro-Oesophageal Surgery Association) and worked as a Fellow in Upper GI Surgery at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Qualifications

• Batchelor of Science (BSc Hons) 1997. Pathology. University of Edinburgh.
• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) 2000. University of Edinburgh.
• Member Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS Edinburgh) 2004. Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
• Doctorate of Medicine (MD) with Distinction 2011. University of Edinburgh.
• Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Gen Surg) 2013. Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• Member of Faculty of Surgical Trainers 2016.

Awards

• University of Edinburgh School of Surgery Clinical Prize 2009.
• Syme Medal from Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 2012.
• Rank Prize Funds Nutrition Committee Prize 2015.
• Research supervisor for Edinburgh School of Surgery Kenneth Fearon Medal and Ian McLeod Medal Winner 2019.
• Cuthbertson Award and Lecture from The Nutrition Society 2020.
• Research supervisor for the ASGBI Moynihan Prize winner 2024.

Memberships

• Member of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons
• Previous member of the RCSEd Trainee Advisory Committee
• Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCS)
• Member of Faculty of Surgical Trainers
• Member of ESPEN (European Society of Clinical Nutrition & Metabolism) Faculty and Expert Group on Perioperative Nutrition
• Board member of the Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders (SCWD)
• Member of the NIHR Cancer and Nutrition Collaboration
• Treasurer and Founding Member of Cancer Cachexia Society
• Associate Editor for the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
• Editorial Board Member for the journal Cancers
• Editorial Advisory Board Member for Clinical Nutrition
• Member of the Scientific Committee for the Melville Trust for the Care and Cure of Cancer

Publications