9 Harley St London W1G 9QY   |   HCA Healthcare UK, The Shard, St Thomas’ Street, London SE1 9BS

Mr. Axel Sahovaler

Axel has a unique combination of training and practice in North America, working in very high-volume academic head and neck surgery centers.  He has since moved to London, where he has formed a team with Professor Mark McGurk, perfecting minimally invasive techniques in salivary gland surgery.

 

His independent practice is at London Bridge Hospital and his NHS base is at University College London Hospital where his research and teaching take place.

Registrations

General Medical Council. Reference number 7819291 Registered with a licence to practise

 

Memberhips

American Head and Neck Society (AHNS)

Other appointments

Currently working with Professor Mark McGurk forming a surgical team for complex benign and malignant head and neck surgery

 

Qualifications:

  • Head and Neck Surgical Oncology Fellowship. University of Toronto, Canada. June 2019
  • Head and Neck Fellowship/Advanced Training in Head and Neck Oncology & Reconstructive Microvascular Surgery. Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. June 2018
  • Head and Neck Surgeon. Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Argentina. May 2016
  • General Surgeon. Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Argentina. May 2013
  • Medical Doctor. Instituto Universitario CEMIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina. December 2008

Posts Held

Nov 2021 – Present Head and Neck Surgeon and Microvascular Reconstruction, University College London Hospitals, London, UK 

Jul 2020 – Nov 2021 Head and Neck Surgery /Guided Therapeutics, University of Toronto, Canada

Sep 2019 – Jun 2020 Head and Neck Surgery and Reconstructive Consultant Surgeon, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Jul 2018- Sept 2019 Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction, University of Toronto, Canada

Feb 2017 – Jun 2018 Head and Neck Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

Grants, Awards & Prizes

First-in-Human Porphysome Nanotechnology for Precision Tumor Ablation and Surgical Guidance. The Agnico Eagle Beyond Chemotherapy Grand Challenge. $500,000 CAD. PIs: A Oza, J Irish, B Wilson

First-in-Human Porphysome Nanotechnology for Precision Tumour Ablation and Surgical   Guidance, OICR Clinical Acceleration Team Awards. Ontario Institute for Cancer  Research. $1,130,803 CAD PI: G Zhang

Pre-CTA/protocol design for the first-in-human porphysome clinical trial. Princess Margaret Research Stimulus Grant. $75,000.00 CAD PI: G Zhang

Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. Grant: Surgical Oncology Innovations in Translational and Basic Science Research. Title: “Assessment and translation of nanoparticle mediated photo-therapy in spontaneously occurring head and neck tumours in a clinical veterinary population”. PI: Jonathan Irish MD.

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Catalyst Grants/Invest in Research Grants. “Nanotechnology-enabled photodynamic therapy in translational veterinary models: treatment parameter optimization for in-human studies”. PI: Jonathan Irish MD.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research – CIHR project Grant. “Nanoparticle mediated fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy in veterinary animals with spontaneous oral cavity carcinomas”. PI: Jonathan Irish MD.

Nanoparticle enabled photodynamic therapy and fluorescence guided surgery for treatment of oral cavity cancer. Canadian Cancer Society Challenge Grant. Co-PI: Zheng Co – applicants/collaborators: M Oblak, R Foster, B Wilson, N Muhanna, R Weersink. $401,700   (CAD) PI: J Irish

Publications

Incidence and predictive factors for positive non-sentinel lymph nodes in completion neck dissection following a positive sentinel node biopsy in early oral cancer. Searan Karamchandani, Axel Sahovaler, Elizabeth Crosbie-Jones, Mark McGurk, Selvam Thavaraj, Mustansir Alibhai, Simon Wan, Martin D Forster, Isabel Sassoon, Clare Schilling. DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2024.107081 PMID: 39426362 

Sentinel Node Biopsy in Oral Cancer-Indications, Analysis, and Outcomes.Schilling C, Sahovaler A, Lai SY.
JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Jul 1;150(7):634. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2024.1332.
PMID: 38842844

Ultrasound-guided wire localisation: a GPS for hidden head and neck tumours? A case series. Laxague F, Gualtieri T, Brahm G, Yoo J, MacNeil SD, Fung K, Mendez A, Sahovaler A, Nichols AC. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2023 Jul 28. doi: 10.14639/0392-100X-N2280. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37519136

The impact of surgical resection margins on outcomes for adults with head and neck osteosarcomas: A Canadian sarcoma research and Clinical Collaboration (CanSaRCC) study. Tzelnick S, Soroka HP, Tasnim N, Gilbert RW, Irish JC, Goldstein DP, Brown D, Gullane P, Chepeha DB, Yao CMKL, Sahovaler A, Witterick IJ, Monteiro E, Davies J, Huang SH, O’Sullivan B, Hahn E, Hosni A, Razak AA, Gupta AA, de Almeida JR. Oral Oncol. 2023 Jul 19;145:106495. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2023.106495. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37478572

The Ansa Hypoglossi: Quantifying Axonal Density of a Donor Nerve for Facial Reinnervation. Sahovaler A, Laxague F, Fnais N, Tran C, Wehrli B, Matic D, Nichols A, Mendez A, Gill R, Yoo J. Facial Plast Surg Aesthet Med. 2023 May 16. doi: 10.1089/fpsam.2022.0405. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37192498

Skull-Base Surgery -A Narrative Review on Current Approaches and Future Developments in Surgical Navigation. Tzelnick S, Rampinelli V, Sahovaler A, Franz L, Chan HHL, Daly MJ, Irish JC.J Clin Med. 2023 Apr 4;12(7):2706. doi: 10.3390/jcm12072706.PMID: 37048788