Professor Taranjit (Taran) Singh Tatla graduated with first class Intercalated BSc in Anatomy (1994) and MBBS at University College London (1996) and progressed through basic and higher surgical training incorporating posts at many of the renowned London teaching hospitals. Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England (FRCS ORL-HNS) was awarded in 2006, and he has been a full-time NHS consultant working at London North-West University Healthcare NHS Trust since 2008.

Although generally trained in ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery, he specialises with Thyroid, Head and Neck (H&N) and Laryngology sub-interests. He has been Chair for regional H&N cancer, thyroid cancer, tracheostomy and complex swallow multidisciplinary teams (MDT), and has led the development of novel MDT integrated care pathways, primed for digital delivery through telemedicine and tele-training.

His busy clinical workload has been complimented by training, research and leadership roles that provide unique interface to academic groups, both within and outside of healthcare, including Med-Tech and Pharma industries.

Professor Tatla has developed and delivered various innovative multidisciplinary postgraduate courses nationally since 2004, relevant to surgeons and the wider MDT. Core learning themes for each have included optimised team working for evidence-based, clinical and cost-effective care. These have allowed unique learning and research opportunities that have extended to allied health staff, healthcare scientists and engineers from University of Kent, University College and Imperial College London.

As chief editor, he delivered an exhaustive, illustrated H&N imaging textbook, aimed at multidisciplinary professionals and published in 2021 by Springer (titled: Head and Neck Imaging – An MDT Approach). In 2015 Professor Tatla set up the annual celebratory Rowena Ryan Trainees and Trainers awards which were incorporated nationally into the ENT UK Foundation in 2021; then extended to include an international focus. Through Health Education England, he has served as London deanery Training Programme Director for higher surgical training in ENT-H&N Surgery (2018-24), covering the largest and most popular of the country’s training programmes (North Thames).

As founder director, Professor Tatla launched CEREBR8 as a not-for-profit / charity in set-up in 2024. Through shared vision and co-production, the aim is to build a digital platform and hub dedicated to advancing practice of the H&N multi-professional community for global patient benefit. A networked community of professionals and organisations partnering to align with CEREBR8’s core mission of collaboration, caring and sharing digitally. Aims are multi-fold; to catalyse the sharing of educational material and resources; to support audit and research projects that target difficult to serve patients and communities; to champion innovative healthcare solutions, and accelerate their development through digital innovations, machine-learning and artificial intelligence.

Over the last year, multiple postgraduate MDT courses have been delivered digitally by CEREBR8 in a hybrid manner, shared at no cost to professionals in low resource settings globally.