Professor Stephen J Wigmore

Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery and Head of Department of Surgery.

Professor Stephen J Wigmore

  • Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgical Services and Edinburgh Transplant Unit Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

Contact details

Clinical Interests

Professor Wigmore's interests lie in organ transplantation and liver, pancreas and biliary cancer surgery. His principal research focus is on the cell and molecular biology of organ pre-conditioning and stress protein expression. Other research interests include the Kupffer cell, innate immunity, endotoxin handling and functional assessment of the liver in the context of surgery and transplantation. He is also involved in medical education and distance learning.

Appointments and Activities

Current

Professor Wigmore is the Regius Chair of Surgery and is the Head of the Department of Clinical Surgery.

Currently he is also:

  • Surgeon to HM The King in Scotland
  • Editor-in-Chief of HPB, the official journal of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA)
  • Programme Director Edinburgh Surgical Sciences Qualification, MSc in Surgical Sciences
  • Director of Edinburgh Surgery Online
  • Hon Secretary of the James IV Association of Surgeons 2018-
  • Trustee Warren’s Wish Lung Transplantation Charity
  • Trustee RI Stirling Bequest
  • Special Adviser to Alan Morement Memorial Fund Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile duct cancer) Charity.
  • Trustee BJS Academy Ltd
  • Treasurer BJS Foundation
  • Chair Charity committee BJS Foundation
  • Chair of The Scientific Advisory Committee, Melville Trust for The Care and Cure of Cancer
  • Chair of the Independent Steering Committee NIHR BTRU Transplantation and Organ Donation-Universities of Cambridge and Newcastle
  • Chair of the Independent Clinical Review into Patients affected by Eljamel

Past

  • Professor Wigmore graduated from King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry and, after two further years in London, moved to Edinburgh to undertake his basic and higher surgical training with Professor Sir David Carter and Professor James Garden.
  • His thesis on hepatic acute phase protein expression in cancer was followed by a visiting post doctoral scholarship at the University of California San Francisco with Dr Bill Welch.
  • He was awarded an Advanced Fellowship by the Wellcome Trust 2001-2005 and he held this post as a senior lecturer and honorary consultant surgeon at the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
  • Professor Wigmore was appointed Chair of Transplantation Surgery at the University of Birmingham and Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre in 2005.
  • Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the British Transplantation Society 2005-7.
  • Associate Editor World Journal of Surgery 2007-2010.
  • Member of Research Board Medical Research Scotland 2007-2010.
  • HEFCE Clinical Senior Lectureships Awards committee 2006-2009.
  • Specialist advisor on Organ Donation & Transplantation to the Chief Medical Officer Scotland. 2008-1012
  • Clinical Director for General Surgery and Transplantation appointed 2009-2014
  • Director of Year 3 Master of Science (MSc) in Surgical Sciences (Edinburgh Surgical Sciences Qualification) 2008-2013
  • Clinical Lead HPB Cancers National Managed Clinical Network for Scotland 2014-2018
  • Director of the James IV Association of Surgeons 2015-2018
  • Chair of Research Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 2014-2022
  • Chairman Ophthalmology Research Sub- Committee Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
  • Surgeon to HM The Queen in Scotland 2018-2022
  • President, The British Transplantation Society 2019-2021

Qualifications

Professor Wigmore's educational qualifications are:

  • Bachelor of Science (BSc 1st Class Hons) Immunology & Parasitology King’s College, University of London
  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), King’s College School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of London
  • Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCSEd)
  • Doctor of Medicine (MD) University of Edinburgh
  • Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Gen Surg), Intercollegiate Board General Surgery & Transplantation
  • Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Awards and Distinctions

Professor Wigmore has been the recipient of numerous postgraduate awards and distinctions:

  • Smith & Nephew Foundation Medical Research Fellowship 1993.
  • Wilkie Research Scholarship University of Edinburgh.1994-5.
  • Chiene Medal - University of Edinburgh, School of Surgery. 1994-5.
  • Francis Mitchell Caird Prize in Surgery. Triennial prize awarded jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh 1996.
  • Yamagiwa Yoshida Fellow Union Internationale Contre Le Cancer UICC 2000.
  • Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland Travelling Fellow 2000.
  • SHERT Travelling Fellow 2000.
  • Wellcome Trust Advanced Fellowship 2001-2005.
  • External examiner Chinese University of Hong Kong 2007, 2009.
  • James IV Travelling fellow 2008.
  • Member of James IV Association 2010
  • National e-Learning Gold Award with ESSQ team 2010
  • Queen’s Anniversary Prize University of Edinburgh with ESSQ Team 2014
  • FRCPEd, 2015
  • FRSE, 2019
  • Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal 2022
  • King Charles III Coronation Medal 2023
  • Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association 2024

Research

A list of publications by Prof. Wigmore are available on PubMed