Professor Thomas J. Hugh | Upper GI & Gallbladder Surgeon Sydney

Page last reviewed July 2026. Bibliometric figures from ResearchGate and a July 2026 publication analysis supporting this page. 66+ papers are catalogued in the publications library.

/ 01Direct answer

Who is Professor Tom Hugh?

Professor Tom Hugh (Thomas J. Hugh, MBBS, FRACS, MD) is a Sydney upper GI and hepatobiliary surgeon and Chair of Surgery at the University of Sydney Northern Clinical School. He treats gallstones, liver tumours and hernias at Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital, with rooms at the Tom Reeve Academic Surgical Clinic in St Leonards.

Independent professional listings describe the same scope. The AANZHPBA profile states that he specialises in gallstones, liver tumours, and abdominal wall and groin hernias. HealthShare notes laparoscopic surgery of the liver and gallbladder, hernia management, and AHPRA registration MED0001137640.

/ 02Clinical practice

What gallbladder, liver and hernia surgery does he provide in Sydney?

Tom Hugh provides specialist assessment and operative care for gallstone disease (including laparoscopic cholecystectomy), benign and malignant liver tumours (including liver resection), and inguinal, umbilical and incisional hernia repair. Care is delivered on Sydney’s North Shore through RNSH and North Shore Private.

Patient guides on this site explain the common pathways in plain language, then link to the underlying research:

Gallstones and gallbladder surgery: Including keyhole gallbladder removal (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) for symptomatic gallstones.
Liver tumours: Benign lesions, primary liver cancer, and secondary disease.
Hernia research: Evidence on groin and abdominal wall hernia repair.

The North Shore Private Hospital listing records the same core procedures: laparoscopic cholecystectomy for gallstones or polyps, liver resections (mostly for malignant tumours), hernia repair, and laparoscopic splenectomy.

Practice locations at a glance

Consultations are held in St Leonards. Public surgery is at Royal North Shore Hospital; private surgery is at North Shore Private Hospital. Both hospitals sit on the same North Shore campus corridor.

Function	Location	Notes
Consultations	Tom Reeve Academic Surgical Clinic, Kolling Building, 10 Westbourne St, St Leonards NSW 2065	Listed on Canrefer and Aus Health Pages
Public hospital	Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards	Upper GI / HPB surgery; teaching hospital campus
Private hospital	North Shore Private Hospital, St Leonards	Ramsay Health Care
Rooms phone	02 9438 2277	Contact and referral details

/ 03Training & roles

What are Professor Hugh’s qualifications and academic roles?

He graduated from the University of Sydney, trained surgically at Royal North Shore Hospital, completed further postgraduate training in the United Kingdom, and was awarded an MD in cellular oncology from the University of Liverpool in 1997. In 2016 he was appointed Professor and Chair of Surgery at the Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney.

He founded and directs the Surgical Education, Research and Training (SERT) Institute at RNSH, and established the Data Analysis and Surgical Outcomes (DASO) unit in 2016. He was a co-founder of the RNSH Clinical Skills Centre within the Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre.

According to the SERT biography, he has taught more than 100 skills courses since 1998, co-founded the Kolling Institute liver tumour biobank (about 500 banked specimens linked to long-term clinical data), and has held ANZHPBA / AANZHPBA executive and research-committee roles, including scientific program coordination for the 2023 AANZHPBA annual meeting in Sydney.

Upper GI Surgeon, Royal North Shore Hospital
Upper GI and General Surgeon, North Shore Private Hospital
Professor and Chair of Surgery, Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney
Chairperson, Royal North Shore Hospital Hepato-Biliary Cancer MDT
Director, RNSH SERT Institute

/ 04Research

How extensive is Tom Hugh’s published research?

A July 2026 bibliometric review of Professor Thomas J. Hugh’s corpus describes over 318 publications, an h-index exceeding 39, and more than 10,000 citations. ResearchGate currently lists 319 publications and 10,325 citations. The work spans HPB outcome standards, colorectal liver metastases, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (including video analytics), hernia diagnosis and repair, and health-systems research through the SERT Institute and DASO unit.

For a practising clinical surgeon, that footprint is substantial. On this site, findings are organised into patient guides and research hubs rather than listed as marketing claims. Start with all publication topics, or go directly to gallstones, colorectal liver metastases, liver surgery, or hernia research.

Metric	Figure	Source
Publications	319 (318+ in analysis)	ResearchGate
Citations	10,325	ResearchGate (July 2026)
h-index	>39	July 2026 bibliometric analysis
Papers on this website	66+ catalogued	Publications library
Prospective audit	DASO unit from 2016	rnsdaso.org

What did the ISGLS papers change in liver surgery reporting?

In 2011, Professor Hugh co-authored International Study Group of Liver Surgery (ISGLS) consensus papers that defined and graded posthepatectomy liver failure, post-hepatectomy haemorrhage, and bile leakage. Severity grades A, B and C are tied to the change required in clinical management, which allowed comparable outcome reporting across centres.

Under those definitions, posthepatectomy liver failure relates to impaired synthetic, excretory and detoxifying function, typically with increased INR and hyperbilirubinemia on or after postoperative day five. Bile leakage is defined as drain fluid with bilirubin at least three times the concurrent serum level. Haemorrhage is linked to a haemoglobin drop greater than 3 g/dL from baseline plus the need for transfusion or invasive intervention. Later multicentre work validated these definitions in practice. Related reading: liver surgery research and the liver tumours guide.

What does the colorectal liver metastases research show?

A major strand of the corpus concerns colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). A 2016 systematic review and proportional meta-analysis of 15,144 patients found that selected extra-hepatic disease is not an absolute contraindication to resection when an R0 (margin-negative) resection is achievable, with reported five-year overall survival up to 26% in that analysis.

A 2019 propensity-score analysis reported that non-anatomical resection can achieve oncological outcomes equivalent to anatomical resection for CRLM, with lower postoperative morbidity (31.1% versus 44.4% in that study), supporting parenchyma-sparing approaches when appropriate. Longer-term series in the corpus report a ten-year overall survival of 33% after resection in a real-world cohort, and quality-of-life work using EORTC QLQ-C30 instruments describes high functional status among long-term survivors. Newer papers examine proteogenomic drivers of early intrahepatic recurrence (including TP53, APC and KRAS pathways) and circulating extracellular vesicle biomarkers. See colorectal liver metastases research.

How has laparoscopic cholecystectomy research evolved in this corpus?

Work on keyhole gallbladder removal runs from a 1992 prospective series of 100 unselected laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients through to contemporary grading of operative difficulty, routine intra-operative cholangiography, and machine-learning analysis of operative video.

The North Shore intraoperative grading system (Grades 1 to 4) scores wall thickness, distension, necrosis and adhesions. In an analysis of 2,633 patients, Grade 3 and 4 cases were associated with longer operative times, more difficult cholangiography, higher bile-leak and readmission rates, and greater cost. Routine IOC identified unsuspected (“silent”) common bile duct stones in about 3.2% of otherwise low-risk patients in published work. Video analytics using platforms such as Touch Surgery reported lower rates of achieving the critical view of safety in Grade 4 cases (about 73%) than in Grade 1 cases (about 94%), and later papers describe an artery-first technique when standard CVS cannot be obtained safely. Patient-facing detail: gallstones and gallbladder surgery. Evidence hub: gallstones research.

What hernia and abdominal-wall research is relevant to patients?

Hernia publications emphasise accurate diagnosis before mesh repair. The Groin Musculoskeletal Assessment Protocol (Groin-MAP) is a short clinical screen designed to separate true inguinal hernia from pubic, adductor, iliopsoas or hip-related pain. Separate work distinguishes parainguinal hernias from Spigelian hernias because the preferred repair approach differs.

Cohort and PROM studies in the corpus address open anterior repair for complex recurrent inguinal hernia (including foreign-body removal), long-term outcomes after ventral and small midline incisional hernia repair, and regional cost variation in Australian groin hernia practice. Browse hernia research.

Selected landmark papers

The table below lists high-impact themes with DOIs where available. A curated subset also appears under each topic hub on this website.

Year	Theme	Paper focus	Link
2011	ISGLS	Definitions and grading of PHLF, haemorrhage, and bile leak	DOI
2016	CRLM	Resection with extra-hepatic disease: meta-analysis (n=15,144)	DOI
2019	CRLM	Non-anatomical vs anatomical resection: propensity analysis	DOI
1992	Gallbladder	Prospective laparoscopic cholecystectomy series (n=100)	Hub
2021	Gallbladder	Unsuspected choledocholithiasis on routine IOC	DOI
2022	Gallbladder / AI	Machine learning platforms and operative difficulty	DOI
2023	Hernia	Groin-MAP clinical examination protocol	DOI
2025	Hernia	Parainguinal vs Spigelian hernia distinction	DOI

Note: some global bibliometric databases incorrectly attach unrelated microbiology or genetics papers sharing the initial “T. Hugh”. Those items are not part of Professor Thomas J. Hugh’s surgical corpus and are not cited here.

/ 05Cancer MDTs

Is Tom Hugh involved in multidisciplinary cancer care?

Yes. Professor Hugh is Chairperson of the Royal North Shore Hospital Hepato-Biliary Cancer MDT meeting. Cancer Institute NSW’s Canrefer service also lists him as a hepatobiliary surgeon and an active member of multidisciplinary teams that coordinate care for people with liver cancer.

Royal North Shore Hospital Hepato-Biliary Cancer MDT (Professor Hugh is Chairperson of this MDT meeting)
Gosford Hospital Hepatocellular Cancer MDT

Related reading on this site: hepatocellular carcinoma research, colorectal liver metastases, and the liver tumours patient guide.

/ 06Communication

How does Tom Hugh explain diagnosis and treatment options?

He believes patients should have a clear understanding of their diagnosis and treatment options before deciding on surgery, and aims to explain these in straightforward, easy-to-understand language grounded in evidence and audited outcomes.

That approach matches the teaching-hospital setting of the Tom Reeve Academic Surgical Clinic and the audit focus of the DASO unit. For procedure detail, start with the gallstones guide or the patient journey overview.

/ 07External profiles

Where else is Professor Thomas Hugh listed online?

Verified professional and institutional pages include AANZHPBA, Canrefer, the RNSH SERT Institute, North Shore Private Hospital, ResearchGate, Aus Health Pages, HealthShare, and LinkedIn. Short extracts below are attributed to those sources.

Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand HPB Association
AANZHPBA Find a Surgeon profile
Tom Hugh is an Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon based at Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital. He specialises in the treatment of patients with gallstones, liver tumours, and abdominal wall and groin hernias.
View source
Cancer Institute NSW
Canrefer specialist listing
Prof Hugh is a hepatobiliary surgeon. He is an active member of a multidisciplinary cancer care team that coordinates care for people with liver cancer.
View source
Northern Sydney Surgery / RNSH SERT Institute
SERT Institute biography
Tom Hugh is the Chair of Surgery at the Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney. His clinical interests include the management of benign and malignant liver tumours, gallstone disease and repair of groin and complex abdominal wall hernias.
View source
Ramsay Health Care
North Shore Private Hospital specialist page
Professor Hugh undertakes a broad range of open and laparoscopic procedures but mainly performs laparoscopic cholecystectomy, liver resections, repair of inguinal, umbilical and incisional hernias, and laparoscopic splenectomy.
View source
ResearchGate / University of Sydney
ResearchGate research profile
Thomas HUGH, Professor of Surgery, Chair Northern Clinical School. Cited by 10,325. Read 319 publications.
View source
Aus Health Pages
Aus Health Pages directory
Prof Thomas Hugh is an Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon in St Leonards, NSW, consulting from the Kolling Building, Royal North Shore Hospital campus.
View source
HealthShare
HealthShare professional profile
Dr Hugh specialises in surgery of the liver and gallbladder. He undertakes a broad range of laparoscopic surgery and also has a special interest in the management of all types of hernias. AHPRA number: MED0001137640.
View source
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Professional profile for Tom Hugh, Sydney.
View source

/ 08On this site

Which pages should patients and referrers open next?

Use the condition guides for plain-language pathways, and the publications hubs when you need the peer-reviewed evidence behind gallstones treatment, hernia repair, or liver surgery in Australia.

Referring doctors: see referral information. Appointments: contact the rooms.

/ 09Common questions

Common questions about Professor Tom Hugh

Who is Professor Thomas J. Hugh?

Professor Tom Hugh is an upper gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary and general surgeon based in St Leonards, Sydney. He consults at the Tom Reeve Academic Surgical Clinic and operates at Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital. He is Chair of Surgery at the University of Sydney Northern Clinical School.

What conditions does Tom Hugh treat?

His practice centres on gallstones and gallbladder disease, benign and malignant liver tumours, and abdominal wall and groin hernias, with related upper GI and general surgery including laparoscopic splenectomy when indicated.

Where does Tom Hugh consult and operate in Sydney?

Consultations are at the Tom Reeve Academic Surgical Clinic, ground floor north of the Kolling Building, 10 Westbourne Street, St Leonards NSW 2065. Surgery is at Royal North Shore Hospital (public) and North Shore Private Hospital (private).

How does Tom Hugh approach decisions about surgery?

He aims to explain diagnosis and treatment options in straightforward language so patients understand the evidence and alternatives before deciding on an operation. Clinical audit through the DASO unit informs discussion of the likely post-operative course.