Professor Rowan W Parks

Appointments and Activities

Current

Professor Parks is Professor of Surgical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently the President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. 

His research interests are in clinical aspects of hepatobiliary and pancreatic disease. He continues to lecture extensively on these and related subjects. He also regularly reviews articles for a number of surgical journals and referees grant applications from funding/ awarding bodies.

Past

Professor Parks pursued his surgical training in Northern Ireland, and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1993. He undertook a period of full-time research in the Department of Surgery, Queens University Belfast. This work investigated the effect of obstructive jaundice on gut barrier function and resulted in the award of a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1997.

This work investigated the effect of obstructive jaundice on gut barrier function and resulted in the award of a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1997.

Following this he completed his higher surgical training on the Northern Ireland higher surgical training programme and undertook a clinical fellowship in hepato-pancreatico-biliary surgery and transplantation at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Professor Parks was awarded his Certificate of Completion of Surgical Training (CCST) in 1999 and in the same year was appointed a Senior Lecturer in Surgery and Honorary Consultant Surgeon in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was subsequently promoted to Reader in Surgery in 2006 and was awarded a personal chair in 2010.

Professor Parks is past Chairman of the South East of Scotland Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Group and previous Lead Clinician for the Scottish National Managed Clinical Network for Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Cancer from 2005 to 2010.

Professor Parks contributes significantly to postgraduate education. He has been Training Programme Director and Chair of the Regional Surgical Training Committee and acted as Regional Education Advisor in South East of Scotland (2006-2008). He was Associate Postgraduate Dean in the South East of Scotland (2008-2012), Chairman of the Scottish Specialty Training Board for Surgical Specialities (2009-2012) and Deputy Medical Director of NHS Education for Scotland (2012-2022). 

Memberships

Professor Parks’ current and past memberships are:

• Elected member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (2009-present)
• Elected member of the Council of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (2004-2018)
• President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (2017-2018)
• President of the Great Britain and Ireland Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2015-2017)
• Member of the Council of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons (2003-2008, 2015-2017)
• Member (2004-2014), Vice-Chair (2014-2016) and Chair (2016–2018) of the Scientific Committee of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association
• Past Chair of the Education and Training Committee of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2014-2016)
• Member of the Council of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2020-present)
• General Secretary of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2022-present)
• Member of the Council of the European & African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2009-present)
• Treasurer of the European & African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2019-present)
• Past Chair of the Membership Committee of the European & African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2016-2019)
• Past Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European & African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (2009-2013)
• Past Chair of the Scientific Committee of Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (2005-2009)
• Past member of the Executive Committee of the Council of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons (2004-2008)
• Past Chair of the Education and Training Committee of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons (2004-2008)
• In 2008, Prof Parks was elected a member of the James IV Association of Surgeons and was a Director from 2012-2016

Qualifications

Professor Parks educational qualifications are:

• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics (MB BCh BAO), Queens University Belfast, 1989
• Doctor of Medicine (MD), Queens University of Belfast,1997
• Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (FRCSI), Dublin,1993
• Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, (FRCSEd), Edinburgh, 2001
• Fellow of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2014
• Honorary Fellow of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka (2022)
• Honorary Fellow of the Association of Surgeons of India (2022)

Awards and Distinctions

Professor Parks has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions:

• Fannin prize (1995), Intensive Care Society of Ireland
• Insole award (1995), British Medical Association
• Moynihan medal (1996), Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
• Purce lecture and medal (1997), Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast
• Millin lecture and medal (2000), Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
• President’s lecture and medal (2015), Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

 In addition, he has been awarded a number of travelling fellowships:

• Friar travelling fellowship from the Queens University of Belfast (1995)
• Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Travelling fellowship (2000)
• Moynihan Travelling Fellowship from the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (2001)
• James IV Travelling Fellowship (2004)
• Penman Visiting Professor to University of Cape Town (2015)