Meet Nuru Noor
Dr Nuru Noor is a NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals
What attracted you to a career in gastroenterology/hepatology?
Well I've always enjoyed all the different aspects of medicine - working together with people (patients) to help them overcome difficulties and live their best life, through to fast-paced aspects of medicine such as managing acute/emergency conditions, practical aspects afforded by craft-based specialities, and developing new knowledge and understanding through research. Because I enjoyed all these different aspects, it was hard for me to decide what speciality to choose.
Then I was lucky enough to do a gastroenterology rotation early on as a "resident doctor" and quickly realised that I didn't need to choose - because gastroenterology as a speciality was the perfect mix and had it all. Once I decided on this as a career, I've never looked back. It's a great speciality that can really cater for any type of individual and any type of personality - with a breadth and depth that no other speciality can offer.
What advancement in gastroenterology/hepatology are you most excited about and why?
Honestly there are so many exciting things happening in gastroenterology and hepatology. When I think about IBD (my own area of interest), even in the last 10 years our knowledge/management of this heterogeneous group of conditions has increased exponentially - and the quality of care and options we can offer patients today is really on another level to what it was 10 years ago. I can only imagine how much progress we will make in the next 10-20 years.
For me one of the most exciting aspects of medicine is how we can use clinical trials to rapidly advance our knowledge and provide access to new interventions. Usually this is in the context of novel medications - but clearly new interventions could be lots of things - new techniques, dietary/psychological/surgical/endoscopy and more interventions, as well as new tests/tools/biomarkers etc. One of the most fascinating things we are seeing is use of novel and innovative clinical trials to test lots of these interventions in parallel. I think it is fair to say that gastroenterology and hepatology has been a bit of a laggard when it comes to clinical trial innovations - but with so many exciting and promising interventions on the horizon, I think the biggest advances in gastroenterology will come from adoption of these innovative clinical trials. This should dramatically speed up the answers that we can provide for clinicians and patients.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love the variety. I am very fortunate to be in a clinical academic role so my days can vary from clinical activities working on wards, endoscopy, clinics, seeing patients in emergency departments/acute medical units right through to my academic work focusing on clinical trials, methodology, and more recently on early-phase drug development, statistics and pharmacology. I can honestly say that no day is the same and this variety means life is always interesting.
What is the one thing you would change?
We always talk about the importance of the multidisciplinary team. Rightly so, because it is crucial.
But I think we can do better both in clinical practice and in research. In IBD for example, many specialities now look after analogous immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) with similar mechanistic backgrounds and we all use a lot of the same interventions/medications. I would love to see more cross-speciality working and the dream of things like IMID clinics with gastroenterologists working hand-in-hand and alongside our colleagues in rheumatology, dermatology, neurology etc. With us all teaching and learning from each other.
I think in research this is even more important. One of the things I have appreciated most about working across clinical trials and methodology research is the critical importance of working with colleagues outside of medicine including learning from colleagues in statistics, health economics, methodology, health informatics and more. I think by working with people outside of our small "echo chambers" we can truly push ourselves to become better and think more innovatively about "out-of-the-box" solutions to some of the clinical challenges that we face.
What's the best advice you've been given in your career?
Do things that you enjoy and do things that you are good at.
It's easy enough to say but actually this was the single most important advice I have been given in my clinical academic career. We can't all be good at everything and we don't all enjoy the same things. I realised quite early in my gastro career that I was not going to become an endoscopy superstar and equally becoming a laboratory basic science principal investigator wasn't going to be for me.
But I really loved working in IBD, helping patients improve and go back to doing things that they enjoy doing and working on clinical research projects that could have a real impact to improve quality of life for patients. So I think it is better to be true to yourself and focus on things that you are good at and enjoy - that way work is never boring, you are just working on areas that you enjoy and constantly becoming better.
If any trainee would ask me for advice I would echo the above - do things that you enjoy and do things that you are good at. I would also add to do this alongside people you enjoy working with and learning from.
What does being a BSG member mean to you?
I joined the BSG as a foundation doctor a (very) long time ago, and ever since then the BSG for me has embodied camaraderie, collegiality and friendship. I have also been incredibly fortunate to have been supported by the BSG over the years with things like bursaries and grants and was especially honoured to receive the BSG Young Gastroenterologist of the Year award in 2025 - following in the footsteps of many people in our speciality that I have looked up to and admired over the years - not just for their ground-breaking work but even more so for their exceptional communication skills and ability to inspire others.
When I think of the BSG I also think of the annual meeting. This is perhaps the meeting that everybody working in gastroenterology and hepatology in the UK looks forward to the most. Maybe not because it will have the latest ground-breaking research findings presented, but rather because it is a chance to catch up with peers who are going through all the same challenges around the country. Perhaps more importantly though it provides an opportunity to discuss ideas with enthusiastic and like-minded people across the country to deliver change - hopefully resulting in meaningful improvements for all the patients that we look after and see in our clinical practice.
.png?width=1654&height=1654&ext=.png)