Photo of Dr Omer Ahmad

Dr Omer Ahmad

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GMC/GDC number:

7090129

Professional background

Dr Omer Ahmad is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Interventional Endoscopist at University College Hospital London and serves as the clinical co-lead for the North Central London Endoscopy Regional Network.

He ranked 1st in the UK for specialist gastroenterology training and has been recognised with national awards including the British Society of Gastroenterology Clinical and Translational Scientist of the Year and the British Society of Gastroenterology Endoscopy Rising Star Award.

He graduated from University College London with distinction in both clinical sciences and practice, and earned a First-Class Honours intercalated degree in Pharmacology. During his studies, he was awarded the A.J. Clark Prize for outstanding performance and was named on the Dean’s List for exceptional academic achievement.

His sub-specialist interest is in the early detection and endoscopic resection of pre-malignant lesions and early cancers. He performs advanced endoscopic resection in both the upper and lower GI tract (colon, oesophagus, stomach) including endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and Endoscopic Full Thickness Resection (eFTRD). He is also an accredited colonoscopist for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, meeting stringent performance and quality standards. His specialist clinics include the management of pre-malignant conditions of the gastrointestinal tract (Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Syndromes, Barrett’s Oesophagus, Oesophageal Squamous Neoplasia and Atrophic Gastritis).  

He also specialises in advanced endoscopic therapy for benign conditions of the upper GI tract including strictures and oesophageal motility disorders.

Dr Ahmad completed a PhD at UCL, where he developed pioneering artificial intelligence tools which were subsequently incorporated into routine practice by the leading global endoscope manufacturer. He holds an academic post at University College London (Division of Surgery & Interventional Science), supervising PhD students within a research group focused on developing artificial intelligence and early cancer detection technologies.

He serves on the editorial board of Endoscopy Journal (Thieme/ESGE) as Section Editor and Associate Editor at Frontline Gastroenterology (BMJ/British Society of Gastroenterology). He is a member of the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO) and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy AI Expert Working Groups.

Specialties

Research interests

  • Early Cancer Detection (Colorectal, Oesophagus and Gastric) 
  • Endoscopic resection of colonic polyps, early colorectal cancer, oesophageal and gastric cancer
  • Endoscopic submucosal dissection, intermuscular dissection and full thickness resection
  • Hereditary Colorectal Cancer and Polyposis Syndromes
  • Barrett’s Oesophagus and Oesophageal Squamous Neoplasia
  • Pre-malignant lesions of the stomach (atrophic gastritis)
  • Benign upper GI disease (strictures, motility disorders, achalasia, acid reflux, eosinophilic oesophagitis)
  • Advanced Endoscopic Imaging

Publications

  • Ahmad, O. F., Soares, A. S., Mazomenos, E., Brandao, P., Vega, R., Seward, E., . . . Lovat, L. B. (2019). Artificial intelligence and computer-aided diagnosis in colonoscopy: Current evidence and future directions. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 4(1), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(18)30282-6
  • Ahmad, O. F., González-Bueno Puyal, J., Brandao, P., Kader, R., Abbasi, F., Hussein, M., . . . Lovat, L. B. (2021). Performance of artificial intelligence for detection of subtle and advanced colorectal neoplasia. Digestive Endoscopy. https://doi.org/10.1111/den.14187
  • Ahmad, O. F., Mazomenos, E., Chadebecq, F., Kader, R., Hussein, M., Haidry, R. J., . . . Lovat, L. B. (2023). Identifying key mechanisms leading to visual recognition errors for missed colorectal polyps using eye-tracking technology. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgh.16127
  • Hussein, M., González-Bueno Puyal, J., Lines, D., Sehgal, V., Toth, D., Ahmad, O. F., . . . Haidry, R. (2022). A new artificial intelligence system successfully detects and localises early neoplasia in Barrett’s esophagus by using convolutional neural networks. United European Gastroenterology Journal, 10(6), 528–537. https://doi.org/10.1002/ueg2.12233
  • Rosenfeld, A., Graham, D. G., Jevons, S., Ariza, J., Hagan, D., Wilson, A., . . . Cave, S. (2020). Development and validation of a risk prediction model to diagnose Barrett’s oesophagus (MARK-BE): A case-control machine learning approach. The Lancet Digital Health, 2(1), e37–e48. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30216-X
  • Ahmad, O. F. (2021). Early detection of gastric neoplasia: Is artificial intelligence the solution? The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 6(9), 678–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(21)00254-5
  • Kader, R., V. Hadjinicolaou, A., Burr, N. E., Bassett, P., Ahmad, O. F., Pedersen, L., . . . Lovat, L. B. (2025). Systematic review and meta-analysis: The three-year post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer rate as per the World Endoscopy Organization methodology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2024.07.039
  • Everson, M., Herrera, L. C. G. P., Li, W., Luengo, I. M., Ahmad, O., Banks, M., . . . Haidry, R. J. (2019). Artificial intelligence for the real-time classification of intrapapillary capillary loop patterns in the endoscopic diagnosis of early oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A proof-of-concept study. United European Gastroenterology Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050640618821800
  • Henson, C., Seward, E., Vega, R., & Ahmad, O. F. (2025). Radiofrequency ablation to treat severe haemorrhagic radiation proctopathy: Results from a dual centre prospective case series. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2025-BSG.273
  • Lake, L., Ioannidis, G., Sehgal, V., Banks, M., Graham, D., Ahmad, O., . . . Leonard, D. (2025). The importance of symptomatic oesophageal stenosis after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and the identification of factors which predict their development. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2025-BSG.287
  • Looi, S. J., Ahmad, O., Seward, E., & Vega, R. (2025). Organ-preserving endoscopic resection of a large colorectal lesion causing McKittrick-Wheelock syndrome. Endoscopy, 57, E455–E456. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2590-8284
  • Looi, S. J., Tan, B. T., Kader, R., Ahmad, O., Seward, E., & Vega, R. (2025). Evaluating outcomes of pT1 colorectal cancers (CRC) managed with speedboat assisted endoscopic submucosal dissection (S-ESD). https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2025-BSG.293
  • Gertner, J., Francis, H., Fawkes, J., Ahmad, O., Seward, E., Rosenthal, A., & Vega, R. (2024). Lynch syndrome surveillance: Outcomes from a new regional tertiary centre hub. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2024-BSG.122
  • Gertner, J., Mullin, M. L., Shea, R., Aslam, N., Banks, M., Ahmad, O. F., . . . Sehgal, V. (2025). Combined oesophageal and airway stenting for malignant oesophageal strictures: A retrospective cohort study and development of a novel algorithm. Frontline Gastroenterology, 8 pages. https://doi.org/10.1136/flgastro-2025-103126
  • Gertner, J., Vega, R., Seward, E., & Ahmad, O. (2024). Quality assessment of endoscopic image capture and impact on decision making in a complex polyp multidisciplinary team meeting. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2024-BSG.107
  • Messmann, H., Bisschops, R., Antonelli, G., Libanio, D., Sinonquel, P., Abdelrahim, M., . . . Dinis-Ribeiro, M. (2022). Expected value of artificial intelligence in gastrointestinal endoscopy: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Position Statement. Endoscopy, 54(12), 1211–1231. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1950-5694
  • Vasey, B., Nagendran, M., Campbell, B., Clifton, D. A., Collins, G. S., Denaxas, S., . . . DECIDE-AI expert group. (2022). Reporting guideline for the early-stage clinical evaluation of decision support systems driven by artificial intelligence: DECIDE-AI. Nature Medicine, 28(5), 924–933. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01772-9
  • Ahmad, O. F., & Akbar, A. (2015). Dietary treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. British Medical Bulletin, 113(1), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldu039
  • Ahmad, O. F., & Akbar, A. (2016). Microbiome, antibiotics and irritable bowel syndrome. British Medical Bulletin, 120(1), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldw038