Mr Daniel Richard Leff

I am a Consultant in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery and a Reader in Breast Surgery, based at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust - Charing Cross and St Mary's Hospitals.

I undertook my undergraduate training at Imperial School of Medicine (St Mary's) and qualified in 2000. I then trained in oncoplastic breast surgery at a number of centres of excellence, including the breast unit at Imperial College and the Royal Marsden Hospital. I completed advanced training as a National Oncoplastic Fellow (one of only nine posts competitively awarded in the UK) at Broomfield Hospital and the St Andrew’s Centre for Plastic Surgery in Chelmsford, Essex. I hold a Master of Surgery degree in oncoplastic breast surgery and graduated with a first-class distinction.

In 2016, I was awarded the Isaac Gukas Medal for outstanding achievement in the masters in oncoplastic breast surgery.

I also won the British Association of Surgery Ronald Raven Travelling Award to visit and learn from colleagues at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US. My main research interest relates to the development of margin assessment technologies to reduce rates of re-operative breast surgery.

I perform Oncoplastic Breast Surgery with a particular focus on procedures on breast conserving techniques such a mammoplasty and partial breast reconstruction using chest wall perforator flaps (AiCAP, LiCAP), as well as Implant-Based Breast Reconstruction.

In addition to my clinical work, I am proud to be a Reader in Breast Surgery at Imperial College London. I am Co-PI on the CRUK funded “REI-EXCISE” trial which is a “first in woman” trial aiming to validate a mass-spectrometry based intelligent knife or “iKnife” as an immediate margin detection system to improve the precision of breast conserving surgery, reduce re-operative intervention, and enhance quality of life. I am also PI on the CRUK-EPSRC co-funded “MAMMOBOT” project, which is a multicentre, multidisciplinary pan-UK study that aims to develop a flexible growing robotic for early ductoscopic diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. I was an active member of the Academic and Research Subcommittee of the Association of Breast Surgery (ABS), contributing to a research GAP analysis (Lancet Oncology) and the ABS submission to the Royal College of Surgeons Commission on the Future of Surgery. I sit on the Publications Committee of the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

I was competitively selected for the Ronald Raven Prize Travelling Fellowship and the Association of Breast Surgery Education Fellowship to learn from international experts in Breast Cancer and Reconstructive Surgery at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the premiere cancer center in the USA. More recently, I was competitively selected for the highly prestigious James IV Association of Surgeons International Travelling Fellowship; as well as winning the named Price Thomas Travelling Fellowship of the Travelling Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland to present to leaders in the field of surgical oncology in Milan, Italy. Mr Leff has delivered several key-note lectures including the “McGuire Lecture in Surgical Oncology” (Queens University, Kingston, Canada).

I lead a UK national quality improvement initiative investigating Mastitis and Mammary Abscess Management (“MAMMA”). Visit www.mammastudy.com to find out more.

I have published over 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals on subjects relating to the application of surgical technologies, sensing, and robotics to improve cancer surgery. My research work has won regional, national and international recognition, including the Hounsfield Prize (ICL), British Journal of Surgery Prize (ABS), Patey Prize (SARS), Sir Pat Forrest Award (BBG), Parasuraman Research Excellence Award (INC), Athanasiou Medal (ABME), and Research Excellence Award for best paper in Surgical Education (ACS).