King’s College Hospital Charity is proud to support the groundbreaking work of the Institute of Liver Studies, a leading centre of research, development and innovation. It is based at King’s College Hospital, which is globally renowned for the management of liver diseases of all causes. The hospital’s liver department is the largest hepatology centre in Europe and provides innovative and comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic treatments. With three thousand new adult and five hundred new paediatric referrals each year, its life-saving work never stops.
King’s clinicians and researchers are dedicated to improving the care and outcomes for the thousands of liver patients they serve each year. Many of their breakthroughs and innovations have only been made possible through the generosity of our supporters and grant-giving organisations, who have helped us advance the Institute’s vital work, providing funding for research, equipment and projects that go above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide. Whether it is funding a perfusion machine to ensure a greater number of donated livers are viable for transplantation or supporting the next generation of groundbreaking liver research, their generosity has given patients life-changing care today and hope for tomorrow.
Innovative developments in liver transplantation
The globally renowned Institute of Liver Studies at King’s is committed to developing ways to make transplanted livers last longer and make more livers suitable for transplant. Machine perfusion could be the key to these advances and, thanks to our funding, PhD student Marwa Elgosbi is continuing her studies into this potentially transformative innovation.
Funded by former King’s patient Ralph Smith, Marwa is testing the impact of introducing MSCs to liver tissue during machine perfusion – a method of preserving and reviving the liver by passing oxygenated fluid and nutrients through the organ before transplantation. These cells could help decrease inflammation in livers prior to transplantation and stop the patient’s immune system from attacking the transplanted organ, reducing the risk of liver failure or rejection.
Improving the quality of liver cells for transplantation
We are funding Dr Ragai Mitry, Head of Liver Cell Production and Research, to improve the quality of the hepatocytes used in groundbreaking treatment for very sick and dying children with liver disease. The outcomes of the research could be used to produce high-quality clinical-grade hepatocytes to enhance cell functions, speed up recovery and potentially avoid the need for liver transplantation.
Personalising liver cancer treatment
Funds raised by the late Mark Thornberry, King's patient and Charity supporter, are helping to advance our understanding of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer.
PhD student Robert Nkwo is using cutting-edge machine-learning models and biological data from patients to examine the disease at a molecular level. By developing different computational models of HCC and learning which genes and proteins drive it, Robert’s findings could help to ensure earlier diagnosis of the disease, as well as lead to the development of patient-specific treatments.
