David Sanders

Consultant Gastroenterologist and Professor of Gastroenterology

The gastroenterology unit based at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital & Northern General Hospital is one of the biggest and best in the UK. David was the first professor of gut medicine in Sheffield and has had more than 500 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. His research has resulted in him receiving a number of awards: European Rising Star Award in Gastroenterology (2010), Cuthbertson Medal (2011) and Silver Medal in 2017 (UK Nutrition Society), Swedish Gastroenterology Society Bengt Ihre Medal (2017) & the British Society for Gastroenterology (BSG) Hopkins prize for Endoscopy (2019).

David’s work with patients in Sheffield and around the UK has also been recognised and he is fortunate to be the recipient of the Coeliac UK Healthcare Professional of the Year Award (2010), the inaugural Complete Nutrition Coeliac Health Care Professional Award (2013), the Clinical Nutrition Professional of the Year (2017) and most recently the Outstanding Achievement Award (lifetime award) in 2024.

The Sheffield Gut Unit (www.sheffieldgastro.nhs.uk) is the designated UK National Centre for Refractory Coeliac Disease (2019), World Endoscopy Organisation GI Centre of Excellence (2020) & recipient of the Royal College of Physicians (London) Excellence in Patient Care Awards (2021).

Prof Sanders has been running the Sheffield Gastroenterology Symposium for many years, the biggest of its kind with more than 350 delegates. In addition, he runs the largest National Gut Dietitians’ meeting in Sheffield every two years. He praises the ambassador programme for helping to relieve the pressure of these meetings. Prof Sanders is proud to be a Sheffield Conference Ambassador and views himself as an adopted Sheffielder. He says ‘ I notice how many delegates visit Sheffield for our meetings and are then entranced by the city and the surrounding countryside sooner or later they all come back again’.

David has also successfully hosted the 20th International Celiac Disease Symposium here in Sheffield, in September 2024, which welcomed over 600 delegates from across the world.