The academy will be formally introduced at its inaugural meeting at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on Monday 15 June, bringing together surgeons, trainees and allied health professionals from across the specialty.

Professor Tim Underwood, AUGIS director of research, said: ‘The academy creates a coherent national structure for Upper GI research. It brings together existing expertise, aligns priorities, and provides a clear route from early-stage ideas through to funded multicentre studies. This is about moving from fragmented activity to co-ordinated delivery at scale.'

The academy has been set up to deliver the AUGIS Research Strategy (2025–2030) in practice. It provides the structure needed to run multicentre studies, build research capacity and help ensure that results are used in real clinical settings.

The AUGIS Academy will oversee research activity across key domains, including oesophagogastric, pancreatic and liver surgery, working through appointed surgical specialty leads and integrated trainee and collaborative networks.