As senior lecturer in hepatology at St. George's University, with interests in innate immunity and the immunopathology of liver diseases, I have set up a translational liver research programme with close collaboration with colleagues within the co-located hospital trust. Moreover, I have a strong collaborative network with like-minded colleagues (clinician and basic scientists) across the U.K. (King's College Hospital, Imperial College London, University of Birmingham and University of Nottingham) and in Europe (University of Basel and University of Lyon) and look forward to future combined ventures with the aim of enhancing our understanding of immunopathogenic mechanisms in liver diseases.
A proportion of my time remains devoted to the NHS clinical service in which I conduct two liver clinics, an endoscopy list (with experience in gastroscopy, colonoscopy with polypectomy and therapeutic endoscopy), manage liver inpatients and participate in several multidisciplinary meetings.
I am the NIHR CRN South London Hepatology specialty lead for research and an Associate Editor for BMJ Open Gastroenterology.
Additionally, I am a member of several societies including the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG), British Society of Immunology (BSI), Royal College of Physicians UK (RCP), British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL), European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL).
I am a senior lecturer in Hepatology at St. George's University of London and Honorary Consultant Hepatologist at St. George's NHS Foundation Trust. On the clinical side, I am accredited in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and General Internal Medicine. I have experience in a range of acute and chronic liver diseases with particular interest in complications of cirrhosis and autoimmune liver diseases. Having previously worked at Institute of Liver Studies and and Liver Intensive Therapy Unit at King's College Hospital, I have acquired skills in the management of critically ill patients with acute liver failure (ALF) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Training there also provided substantial exposure to patients with alcohol-related and metabolic-dysfunction associated fatty liver diseases, autoimmune conditions (autoimmune hepatitis, PSC and PBC), patients undergoing liver transplantation and their post-operative long term medical management, patients with hepatopancreaticobiliary disease and a variety of rarer conditions.
I was competitively awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship in February 2015 allowing me to undertake a translational research PhD based at Imperial College London but involving work in the Liver BRC at the University of Birmingham and Institute of Liver Studies at King's College Hospital. The PhD in Liver Immunology evaluated the relationship between susceptibility to infection and TAM receptors expressed on monocytes and macrophages in tissue compartments in liver failure, and was awarded in March 2020. Research work included the writing and amendment of ethical approval, research activity co-ordination across the three sites, due diligence, reporting, recruiting patients including informed consent and incapacitated patients, acquisition, processing and storage of biological samples and extensive laboratory experimental work. The latter included experience in performing lab experiments and analysis by flow cytometry, cytokine arrays, transcriptomic and metabonomic profiling.
I continue to maintain clinical and research links with colleagues at King's College Hospital, the Foundation for Liver Research, Imperial College London and the University of Birmingham. Additionally, I have setup collaborative relationships with colleagues in the University of Nottingham, and University of Basel in Switzerland. Research interests continue to be infectious susceptibility in liver diseases, host-microbiome interactions, innate immunity and immunopathology. Additional interests include alcohol-related hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and checkpoint-inhibitor induced colitis, with current or future involvement in clinical trials related to these fields.