John Neoptolemos is Professor of Surgery at the University of Heidelberg since 2017, and recently also appointed Director of Clinical Research, Botton-Champalimaud Pancreas Cancer Centre, Lisbon. He has over 87,000 citations, £75m in grants and 300 invited lectures. He is the Chair of the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC) (now leading ESPAC6 and 7), and a founder of the International Study Group for Pancreatic Surgery (ISGPS).

He obtained a double degree in Natural Sciences and Philosophy at Cambridge University in 1973. He was appointed to the Liverpool University Chair of Surgery in 1996,  and made an Academy of Medical Sciences Fellow and an NIHR Senior Fellow.

In Liverpool, he established the CRUK Centre, the Pancreas Biomedical Research Unit, the ECMC, CRUK Trials Unit; received the Freedom of the City; the Acute Services Sector Health Services Award. NICE Guidelines Clinical Chair for Pancreatic Cancer; led the joint IAP-JPS-APA-EPC International Consensus Guidelines on Chronic Pancreatitis.; PCUK Medical Advisory Board.

He was admitted to the German Society of Surgery, Hungary Society of Surgery, Nanjing Medical University; awarded three successive DoH Platinum Awards, the APA Hirschberg Award, Ruth Brufsky Award, Henry Lynch Award, EPC LTA, and admitted to the Academia Europaea.