Rate My Professor Frank Frizelle

Professor Frank Frizelle ONZM is Professor of Colorectal Surgery in the Department of Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Otago, Christchurch, Faculty of Medicine. He earned his MB ChB in 1985 and MMedSc from the University of Otago, and holds fellowships including FRACS, FACS, FNZMA, FASCRS, as well as honorary fellowships FRCSI, FASA, and FRCSEd. Following training in general surgery in New Zealand and post-fellowship specialization in colorectal surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the USA and Scotland, he returned in 1996 as Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Otago, Christchurch. Appointed Professor of Colorectal Surgery in 2000, he headed the Academic Department of Surgery from 2006 to 2019 and served as Clinical Director of General Surgery for the Canterbury and West Coast regions from 2022 to 2024. He practices as a Colorectal Surgeon at Christchurch Hospital with the Canterbury District Health Board.

Professor Frizelle's research specializations encompass the aetiology of sporadic colorectal cancer including the microbiome and specific bacteria, epidemiology of early-onset colorectal cancer and factors such as microplastics, diagnosis, management, and outcomes of colorectal cancer, diverticular disease, and medical-legal and publication issues in surgery. He has produced over 500 peer-reviewed publications and more than 50 book chapters, garnering over 14,000 citations with an H-index exceeding 60, and delivered more than 300 presentations at national and international meetings. Since 2002, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the New Zealand Medical Journal. He leads as President of the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand, Chair of the Christchurch Cancer Foundation and Movember's ANZ Prostate Cancer Register, medical advisor to Bowel Cancer New Zealand, and deputy chair of the ANZ binational bowel cancer register. Notable awards include the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2022 for services to health, the New Zealand Medical Association Chairman’s Award in 2018, and an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2018.