Dr. N.S. Balaji heads the Department of Upper GI
and Bariatric Surgery with a sub speciality
interest in Laparoscopic, Upper GI (Oesophagogastric)
and Bariatric Surgery. Having completed his MBBS and MS
from Coimbatore Medical College and Calicut Medical
College respectively, he proceeded to the UK for his
higher surgical training in 1998.
During his tenure in the UK, he had the opportunity in
2000 to undertake Clinical research under Professor. Tom
DeMeester in the Department of Oesophageal and Thoracic
surgery at the University of Southern California at Los
Angeles, California, USA. The following two years he
submerged himself into research in the field of
Oesophageal diseases ranging from GERD, to motility
disorders of the oesophagus to Oesophageal cancer. His
deep interest and passion towards the Oesophagus studies
made him to pursue a career as an Upper GI surgeon.
For the next 7 years, his higher surgical training in
the UK were focussed on Laparoscopic, Oesophagogastric
and Bariatric surgery culminating in his Completion of
Specialist Surgical training (CCST) in the UK in 2008.
He was awarded the Association of Upper GI Surgeons of
Great Britain (AUGIS) Travel Grant in 2009, and
Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain
(ALS) Travel Grant in 2009, which enabled him to visit
international centres of excellence in Upper GI and
Bariatric Surgery. His special interests are in
Laparoscopic surgery, Oesophageal Physiology,
Oesophageal Manometry, Investigation of GERD and
Motility disorders of the Oesophagus, Oesophageal and
Gastric Cancer, Corrosive injuries, and Bariatric
Surgery.
