Professor McCollum was appointed Professor of Surgery and Head of the Department of Surgery in the University of Manchester in 1989 and is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at South Manchester University Hospital. The Academic Surgery Unit includes the Breast Unit which was developed to achieve an International reputation for research in surgical oncology now directed by Professor Nigel Bundred. Professor McCollum was previously trained in Birmingham and Leeds before being appointed Lecturer to Sir Geoffrey Slaney in Birmingham in 1978. He moved to London in 1983 as Senior Lecturer and subsequently Reader in Surgery in the University of London and Honorary Consultant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital. He is a Vascular Surgeon with a tertiary referral practice in carotid artery disease, cerebral perfusion, complex aneurysm surgery, including thoraco-abdominal aneurysm and in complex venous disease.

His initial research was on the role of intravascular emboli on the causation of pulmonary damage (shock lung) in surgical shock. He gained an international reputation for developing an Indium-labelled platelet technique for measuring thrombus growth in arterial disease and vascular prostheses leading to research contracts evaluating novel platelet inhibitory drugs. This early research led to the Moynihan Prize at the Association of Surgeons (UK), two Patey Prizes at the Surgical Research Society of Great Britain and the Hunterian Professorship at the Royal College of Surgeons of in 1985. His recent focus was to establish a cardiovascular epidemiology group in close collaboration with the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology in Manchester. It was research on paradoxical embolism as a cause of stroke in young adults that led to the hypothesis that multiple asymptomatic paradoxical micro-emboli over many years may be the cause of dementia. This led to a collaboration with Old Age Psychiatry leading to substantial funding from the Wellcome Trust and Alzheimer’s Society for research on cerebral emboli as a cause of dementia. Teams are now been assembled to explore the role of cerebral emboli in migraine and dialysis related cerebral injury.

Professor McCollum and his team continue to investigate which patients are at risk of venous insufficiency and venous ulceration. This includes a retrospective cohort study comparing the frequency of venous insufficiency in patients undergoing hip and arm surgery and a study to investigate the frequency of DVT following sprain and conservatively managed ankle fracture. He is also looking at a novel technique using ultrasound contrast to measure calf vein blood flow and measure the effects of standard compression stockings. Professor McCollum is working to further develop a novel technology for the automated manufacture of bespoke compression hosiery.

Professor McCollum has published over 380 papers including 264 on original research. Recent grant income includes project grant funding from the MRC, British Heart Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Alzheimer’s Society and Cancer Research Campaign in addition to grants from the manufactures of vascular grafts or devices, and the pharmaceutical industry. (Total £3.85 million since 2000).