John Watkinson qualified from the Royal Free Hospital (UCL) and trained in ENT, Head & Neck and Plastic Surgery at Guys and the Royal Marsden. He has Fellowships in General Surgery and Otolaryngology, an MSc in Nuclear Medicine, and a MS in Surgery. Since 1992, he has been Consultant Head and Neck and Thyroid surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK and has a large clinical and research thyroid practice. He is Chief Editor of both the textbooks Stell and Maran and Scott Brown, and was President of British Association of Head & Neck Oncologists (BAHNO); 2009-2011 and then British Association of Endocrine & Thyroid Surgeons (BAETS); 2011-2013. He is now President of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) Section of Laryngology (2014-2015), and is currently the Chair of the Semon Lecture Committee (UCL). In 1994, he helped co-found The Get A-Head Charitable Trust with Adrian Drake-Lee, the late Roy Castle, Dr Hilary Jones & the Warwickshire Cricketers.