Trailer for the forthcoming MOOC: 'Liver Disease – Looking After Your Liver' in association with FutureLearn.
Duration: 2:27mins
Speakers
S1 Dr Patricia Lalor, Senior Lecturer, School of Immunity and Infection
S2 Dr Zania Stamataki, Research Fellow, School of Immunity and Infection
Transcript
Hello everyone, my name is Dr Tricia Lalor and I’m a scientist and teacher here at the Centre for Liver Research at the University of Birmingham.
S2 My name is Zania Stamataki and I’m a researcher and teacher at the Centre for Liver Research at the University of Birmingham. We teach science students that are interested in biology and students that are interested in becoming doctors.
S1 We also teach people from many diverse backgrounds including students who are interested in sport science or students who are interested in anatomy and dentistry and we also do some teaching for members of the general public. We are interested in the study of liver disease because liver disease is the fifth most common cause of death in the UK. In the European Union, 29 million people are affected by liver disease which causes up to 170,000 deaths per year and this pattern is reflected globally.
S2 The World Health Organisation has estimated that 2.5% of global deaths are because of liver disease and it’s a growing problem worldwide.
S1 For these reasons it’s really important that policy makers, healthcare professionals and even families are educated into what causes liver disease, how we can treat it and why we’re seeing such a global epidemic in liver disease currently.
S2 Contrary to popular belief, liver disease can result not only from alcohol misuse but also from viral infection, auto-immune disease, inherited conditions and even obesity. It is important to widen appreciation that alcohol exposure is not the only reason for liver damage and that there are limited options for some diseases, apart from liver transplantation. Maybe you have an interest in biology, or perhaps you have a relative or friend with liver disease and you would like to learn more about how the liver works.
S1 We are uniquely placed in one of the largest liver transplant centres in Europe and a centre for excellence for research into human liver disease. If you want to learn more about how your liver works and how to look after it, we hope that you’ll sign up for our free course.
End of recording