Mr Mikolaj Kowal

Profile

I am a Clinical Research Fellow in General Surgery at the University of Leeds and a General Surgery Specialist Trainee in the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery. I graduated from the University of Manchester School of Medicine with Honours in 2019. Following completion of the Academic Foundation Programme, I continued on the NIHR academic pathway as an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Surgery. Clinically, I completed Core Surgical Training rotations in Urology, Colorectal Surgery, Emergency General Surgery, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary & Transplant Surgery. I was awarded the Golden Rose Award for Excellence in Core Surgery Training and I was the regional winner of the Royal College of Surgeons Surgical Skills Competition in 2022. Before my full-time research post, I completed a higher surgical trainee rotation with the Upper Gastrointestinal Unit as the Specialist Registrar on the General Surgery on-call rota at St James's University Hospital. 

My research components were completed with the Academic Surgery Research Group and the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Accelerated Surgical Care. In collaboration with industry partners and the HRC, I led a healthy human study and a feasibility trial, demonstrating the feasibility of new technologies to capture bowel motility in the context of gastrointestinal recovery after colorectal surgery. My research was presented at international conferences and the results were used in a successful industry lead NIHR i4i Connect award (£141,131, 2021-2022). I am a steering committee member for the White Rose Surgical Collaborative, a group facilitating high quality, collaborative, audit and research projects in general and intestinal surgery. I led a successful application for a £9,923 grant from the Leeds Hospitals Charity for the collaborative. I have continued my interests in clinical trials and surgical technologies through current research projects. 

Responsibilities

• Academic Personal Tutor for Year 1 MBChB

Research interests

I am currently working as a clinical research fellow as part of the HoloSurge group, an €8.9 million Horizon Europe grant to advance organ hologram technology to enhance informed surgical decision-making in HPB Surgery. My PhD thesis will focus on the applications of Immersive Technologies in General Surgery, aiming to improve patient outcomes through the use of this exciting technology.

Qualifications

• MBChB (Hons)
• PGCert with Merit in Health Research
• MRCS

Research groups and institutes

• Academic Surgery Colorectal Research Group