Prof Underwood is a professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Southampton. He trained in London and the Wessex region before completing a PhD in molecular biology and taking up a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Lectureship in surgery in 2008.

In 2011, Prof Underwood was awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinician Scientist Fellowship, and in the same year he was awarded the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland prize and gold medal for outstanding performance in the intercollegiate specialty examinations (general surgery). He became a Cancer Research UK & Royal College of Surgeons of England Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellow in April 2017.

Here at UHS, Prof Underwood leads the multidisciplinary team for upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The team provides a local and tertiary sub-specialty service for the central south coast region, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. He also treats the full range of benign and emergency GI conditions.

In addition to his cancer practice, Prof Underwood has a special interest in surgery for complex hiatus hernias and antireflux procedures. He has given invited expert lectures on new techniques for antireflux surgery.