Immune Mediated and Inflammatory Liver Disease

Group leads: Professor Phil Newsome, Professor Patricia Lalor, Dr Simon Afford, and Professor David Mutimer

Overview

The 7 PIs based in the Centre for Liver Research are closely integrated with the internationally renowned Liver Transplant Unit at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. The close integration with the Hepatitis C virology group brings together expertise in the molecular biology of HCV infection and liver immunology to address the immunopathogenesis of HCV infection. The award of an NIHR Biomedical Research Unit for Cell and Immunotherapy of liver disease is allowing the Centre to translate its basic research programmes in immune mechanisms in liver disease and the molecular pathogenesis of hepatitis C infection into novel therapies. 

Our Research Group

Current translational programmes include:

• the use of tissue-specific regulatory T cells to suppress inflammation
• novel strategies to modulate effector cell recruitment
• stem cell therapy to promote liver repair
• adoptive immunotherapy with dendritic cells to stimulate protective immune responses against hepatitis C infection and liver cancer
• the use of novel inhibitors of viral receptors to prevent recurrent HCV infection after liver transplantation.