The Department of Surgery can trace its origins back through an unbroken line of distinguished surgeons to the inception of its predecessor institution, the Hong Kong College of Medicine, in 1888. Because of this, the history of surgery in Hong Kong will always be intricately linked with the development of surgery and surgical education at the Department of Surgery of The University of Hong Kong.

That professionalism is evident today in the surgeons in the department. Professor Simon Law, Chief of Division of Esophageal and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery at Queen Mary Hospital, is an acclaimed academic surgeon in esophageal and upper gastrointestinal surgery. He has gained international reputation in the treatment of esophageal and gastric cancers and was one of the first in the world to pioneer minimally invasive esophagectomy.

The mortality rate from esophagectomy is the lowest in Hong Kong and is among the best in the world. In conjunction with the Department of Clinical Oncology, the team at Queen Mary was the first to initiate and study multimodality treatment strategies in Hong Kong, including the use of chemotherapy, or chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection for esophageal cancer. Based on the team's contributions and others, preoperative combined chemoradiotherapy has been established as a standard-of-care treatment in advanced esophageal cancer, with much improved long-term survival.

Professor Law and his colleagues have established the division at Queen Mary Hospital to be the authoritative opinion for esophageal and upper gastrointestinal surgery and many patients are referred to them both from Hong Kong as well as from other Asian countries.

Much of his research output has been innovative and original, and influential for surgeons worldwide, particularly in the development of the safe use of innovative surgical techniques, and multidisciplinary care for patients with cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Professor Law graduated from the University of Cambridge in England in 1987 with First Class Honors and completed his clinical curriculum at the same university. He received his postgraduate training at the Department of Surgery under the mentorship of Professor John Wong at HKU and then furthered his training in foregut surgery by undertaking a Fellowship with Professor Tom DeMeester at the University of Southern California. His doctorate degree of Master of Surgery was conferred in 2002 and he became Clinical Professor in Surgery in 2005. He is currently Professor of Surgery at Queen Mary Hospital. He is also a Council Member of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong and Chairman of the General Surgery Board.

Professor Law has been a sustained contributor of high-quality research evidenced by publications in high impact international surgical journals. To date he has published nearly 400 journal articles, conference papers, and 26 book chapters.  He is a member of the editorial or international advisory board of nine journals, and associate editor in one. He is regularly invited to deliver lectures worldwide.