Professional background

Mr Alex von Roon completed his undergraduate medical training at Sheffield University and Imperial College London. He undertook higher surgical training on the Northwest Thames Rotation and was awarded a PhD by Imperial College London. He received a research fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

He underwent subspecialist training in colorectal surgery in Adelaide, Australia and St Mark’s Hospital before being appointed clinical senior lecturer and consultant colorectal surgeon at St Mary’s and Charing Cross Hospitals. During this time, he started specialising in inflammatory bowel disease surgery, became clinical lead for enhanced recovery after colorectal surgery and trained on the Senhance robotic surgery platform.

In 2019 he moved to University College London Hospital, where he continues to develop his subspecialist interests in surgery for complex inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal failure and minimally invasive techniques.

Research interests

Mr von Roon completed his PhD research at Imperial College in collaboration with St Mark’s Hospital, focusing on outcomes of ileoanal pouch surgery for familial adenomatous polyposis and metabonomic profiling of pouchitis in ulcerative colitis.

He has maintained a research collaboration with the Polyposis Registry at St Mark’s Hospital and co-supervises several PhD students investigating the natural history of gastroduodenal and ileoanal pouch polyposis in FAP, genetic and environmental factors associated with these and colorectal anastomotic healing.

He also has an interest in evidence synthesis in inflammatory bowel disease, surgical education and surgical trials. He is a reviewer for a number of surgical journals.

Publications

  • Warren L, von Roon AC, Ingram R, Arebi N. Strictureplasty versus resection for small bowel strictures in Crohn’s disease. Cochrane Collaboration, 2019, in press
  • The Ostom-I  Alert Sensor: a novel device to measure stoma output. Kontovounisios C, Smith J, Dawson P, Warren O, Mills S, von Roon A, Pawa N, Virgin-Elliston T, Jerome M, Tekkis P. Tech Coloproctol. 2018; 22(9):697-701
  • von Roon AC, Tekkis PP. Haemorrhoids update. BMJ Clin Evid, 2015
  • von Roon AC, Mills SC, Orchard TR, Tekkis PP. Enteral Nutrition in Crohn’s disease update. BMJ Clin Evid,2015
  • Navarro-Sanchez A, von Roon AC, Thomas RL, Marchington SW, Isla A. A new teaching model for laparoscopic bile duct exploration: use of porcine aorta. Cir Esp 2014;92(10):692-3
  • Shirts B, von Roon AC, Tebo A. The entire predictive value of the Prometheus IBD sgi diagnostic product may be due to the three least expensive and most available components. Am J Gastroenterol 2012 Nov;107(11):1760-1
  • Newman J, Fitzgerald JEF, Gupta S, von Roon AC, Sigurdsson HH, Allen-Mersh TG. Outcome predictors in acute surgical admissions for lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Colorectal Dis 2012;14(8):1020-6
  • von Roon AC, Will OCC, Man RF, Neale KF, Phillips RKS, Nicholls RJ, Clark SK, Tekkis PP. Mucosectomy and handsewn anastomosis reduces the risk of adenoma formation in the anorectal segment after restorative proctocolectomy for familial adenomatous polyposis. Ann Surg 2011;253(2):314-7.
  • Kinross JM, von Roon AC, Penney N, Holmes E, Silk D, Nicholson JK, Darzi A. The gut microbiota as a target for improved surgical outcome and patient care. Curr Pharm Des 2009;15(13):1537-45.
  • Reese GE, von Roon AC, Tekkis PP. Haemorrhoids. BMJ Clin Evid, Issue 19, 2009
  • Kinross JM, von Roon AC, Holmes E, Darzi A, Nicholson JK. The human gut microbiome: implications for future health care. Current Gastroenterology Reports 2008;4(10):396-403
  • von Roon AC, Tekkis PP, Lovegrove RE, Phillips RKS, Clark SK. Comparison of outcomes of ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for familial adenomatous polyposis with and without prior ileorectal anastomosis. Br J Surg 2008;95:494-498.
  • von Roon AC, Reese GE, Orchard TR, Tekkis PP. Crohn’s Disease. BMJ Clin Evid, Issue 17, 2007
  • von Roon AC, Reese GE, Teare JP, Constantinides V, Darzi AW, Tekkis PP. The risk of cancer in patients with Crohn’s disease. Dis Colon Rectum. 2007;50(6):839-55.
  • von Roon AC, Karamountzos L, Purkayastha S, Reese GE, Teare JP, Paraskeva PA, Darzi AW, Tekkis PP. Diagnostic precision of fecal calprotectin for inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal malignancy. Am J Gastroenterol 2007; 102(4): 803-813.
  • von Roon AC, Tekkis PP, Clark SK, Heriot AG, Lovegrove RE, Truvolo S, Nicholls RJ, Phillips RKS. The impact of technical factors on outcome of restorative proctocolectomy in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. Dis Colon Rectum. 2007;50(7):952-61.
  • Reese GE, Purkayastha S, Tilney HS, von Roon AC, Yamamoto T, Tekkis PP. Strictureplasty versus resection in small bowel Crohn’s disease: an evaluation of short term outcomes and recurrence. Colorectal Dis 2007;9(8):686-94.
  • Lovegrove RE, Tilney HS, Heriot AG, von Roon AC, Athanasiou T, Fazio VW, Tekkis PP. A Comparison of Adverse Events and Functional Outcomes After Restorative Proctocolectomy for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis and Ulcerative Colitis. Dis Colon Rectum. 2006; 49(9): 1293-306.