Professional Profile
Training and Appointment
After qualifying in medicine from the University of Southampton in 1997, Dr Ajaz undertook training in cancer medicine in Bristol, Guildford and London from 2000 to 2010. He completed a PhD at the Institute of Cancer Research in 2010.
Dr Ajaz has previously held the role of Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey and is currently an Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital as well as a Consultant Oncologist at St George’s Hospital, South London, where he’s based on the Ambulatory Oncology Care Unit (AOCU).
He is President of Story FMR (Funding Melanoma Research) which was set up to help fund ground-breaking research that is undertaken at Surrey University, the Royal Surrey County Hospital and St Luke’s Cancer Centre in Guildford.
Research
With wide-ranging scientific and clinical experience, Dr Ajaz aims to bring multiple new angles to skin cancer research and practice, including specialised radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and chemotherapy combinations. His research is carried out with a deliberate focus on therapies that are clinically translatable, with real-world benefit for patients. He has been widely published and recent papers examine the use of radiation therapy in melanoma, as well as combination treatments for optimal outcomes in skin cancer patients.
Current practice
Dr Ajaz focuses on personalising any new treatment approaches, basing them on high-resolution diagnosis and the right strategy for the right patient at the right time.
He offers a weekly clinic to private oncology patients at Mount Alvernia Hospital, which houses a specialist Cancer Centre, St Martha’s. Within this department, there are nine patient rooms and six pods for chemotherapy. The Centre provides outpatient and daycase services to patients. The service is provided by oncology specialist nurses and consultants and covers diagnostics, intravenous and oral chemotherapy, chemotherapy instillations and monoclonal antibodies therapy. Chemotherapy is given for a number of tumours including skin, breast, urological, prostate, bowel, ovarian, bladder, haematological conditions, upper and lower GI, brain, pancreas, head and neck and melanoma. There is a specialist oncology physiotherapy service, and patients have access to acupuncture and alternative therapies, as well as a dedicated Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) who works alongside Dr Ajaz on delivery of treatment.
