Mark trained as a medical doctor and Gynaecologist in South Africa graduating with the Gold Medal for Obstetrics and Gynaecology for the Fellowship of the College of Medicine of South Africa. He has continued to pursue a combined clinical and academic career with a number of successful innovations in surgery and Gynaecology. In addition, he has a strong interest in basic science research. He still practices clinical medicine and surgery in Cambridge as well as being on the staff of the clinical school of medicine of the University of Cambridge. Mark is actively involved in clinical and basic research and participates in student teaching. He also has strong academic links in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and South Africa. His work resulted in him being awarded the Simms Black Professorship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the award of “Leading Clinical Researcher” by the National Institute of Health Research 2015. He has published over a hundred original peer reviewed articles and contributed to more than 25 textbooks. His interest in minimal access surgery led him to explore the possibilities of improving uptake of minimal access surgery by the utilisation of more sophisticated surgical tools such as the robot.