Dion is Director of the West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre (WMGMC) which is a partnership of 18 NHS acute Trusts across the region, working collaboratively to help to deliver the NHS England innovative 100,000 Genomes Project. It is one of 13 similar centres, paving the way for the future of medical science - personalised medicine. Dion also leads the Pan Cancer Genomics England Clinical Interpretation Partnership (GeCIP) and is a member of the Colorectal Cancer GeCIP.
Since 2017, he has co-led the newly established NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery.
He was Chair of the Research Committee of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) 2011 to 2019 and initiated the expansion of the clinical research portfolio and growth in international collaboration within the European colorectal community. He is now Chair of the Global Reach Committee.
Dion led the Birmingham Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre between 2009 and 2019, leading the successful increased multi million pound refunding in 2012 and again in 2016. The Birmingham ECMC aims to improve the feasibility and quality of research in the areas of immunotherapy and gene therapy, translational genetics and biomarkers. It is UK government and Cancer Research UK funded and the largest centre in the UK.
Nationally he was Director of Clinical Research at the Royal College of Surgeons of England 2012-2019 and led the Clinical Research Initiative. The programme is now well established and has 7 Surgical Trials Units and 11 Surgical Specialty Leads (including Mr Simon Bach and BiSTC at the University). This initiative has led to the big rise in patients recruited to surgical trials and of surgical trials opened in the UK.
He is Past President of the Society for Academic and Research Surgery.
The Professor Morton recognised the immense potential of surgical trainees in research, and championing the development of the UK’s first trainee-led research network, the West Midlands Research Collaborative (WMRC) which pioneered a UK wide network of 18 collaboratives.
Selected publications from PubMed
Costs associated with anastomotic leak after left-sided colorectal surgery: retrospective real-world study in England.
Glover-Kirtland J, Tong C, Bosut MP, Schmitz ND, Carvalho SJ, Rice CT, Morton DG, Li E, Pinkney TD
BJS Open. 2026 May 12;10(3) doi: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrag049.
Results of the international audit for faecal incontinence on behalf of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) collaborating group.
Dulskas A, Cerkauskaite D, El-Hussuna A, Gallo G, Dardanov D, Svagzdys S, Singh B, Pinkney T, Pellino G, Glasbey J, van Ramshorst G, Chaudhri S, Frasson M, Pata F, Morton D, Knowles CH, European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) 2022 Collaborating Group
Colorectal Dis. 2025 Oct;27(10):e70245 doi: 10.1111/codi.70245.
Hereditary gastrointestinal polyposis syndromes Rare Disease Collaborative Network consensus statement agreed at the RDCN meeting Birmingham 17th February 2022.
Clark S, Cuthill V, Hawkins J, Hyer W, Latchford A, Sinha A, Din F, Beggs A, Desai A, Morton D, Hitchen D, Hill J, Lalloo F, Newton K, Pugh S, Dolwani S, Hargest R, Horwood J, Ramaraj R, Rogers M, Collins P, McNichol F, Beck N, Side L, McDermott F
BJC Rep. 2023 Aug 4;1(1):10 doi: 10.1038/s44276-023-00011-z.
Systematic review of preoperative and intraoperative colorectal Anastomotic Leak Prediction Scores (ALPS).
Venn ML, Hooper RL, Pampiglione T, Morton DG, Nepogodiev D, Knowles CH
BMJ Open. 2023 Jul 18;13(7):e073085 doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073085.
Implementation of a batched stepped wedge trial evaluating a quality improvement intervention for surgical teams to reduce anastomotic leak after right colectomy.
Venn ML, Knowles CH, Li E, Glasbey J, Morton DG, Hooper R, ESCP EAGLE Safe Anastomosis Collaborative
Trials. 2023 May 15;24(1):329 doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07318-9.
Surgical procedures related to ongoing trials: Scientific validation of surgical strategies is necessary to ensure their safety and benefits. It makes responsible evolution of clinical practice possible. Several institutions all over the world are working joining efforts to collect enough data to achieve strong conclusions. The live surgery is beginning with a mesh reinforcement for abdominal wall reconstruction (BORODIN Trial), followed by live discussion among experts and finishing with an appendectomy to modulate immune response and remission for chronic ulcerative colitis (Accure-UK Trial). Dion Morton from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (UK) provided an innovative format to broadcast two surgical procedures and their scientific basis.
Published
Mar 2016
A percentage of patients with colon cancer treated with curative intention died despite of receiving a correct surgery and complementary adjuvant therapy. This fact awakes the necessity of remodeling the approach. Recently a well designed multicenter trial comes from the collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the Cancer Research UK Organization. The proposal is to give neoadjuvant treatment for patients with high risk of colon cancer with the intention to reduce the recurrence after surgery among other objectives. Dion Morton justifies the trial and explain its design, he said “I think it is not the trial, it is the first trial” to explain the impact of this investigation. One of the potentials benefits is the downsizing and downstaging of the tumor, increasing the number of cases with a proper surgical treatment improving the oncological outcomes. In summary, this study represents a mind changing trial delivered safely to carefully selected patients.
Published
Sep 2014
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