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.

Research group staff members

Professor Phil Newsome (group lead)
Professor of Experimental Hepatology
Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer for the College of Medical & Dental Sciences
Director of the Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research

Professor Patricia Lalor (group lead)
Professor in Experimental Hepatology

Dr Simon Afford (group lead)
Reader in Liver Immunobiology
Head of the Birmingham Machine Perfusion Research Group

Professor David Mutimer (group lead)
Professor of Clinical Hepatology
Honorary Consultant Hepatologist

Ye Htun Oo
Ricky Bhogal
Mirka Blahova
Lia Liaskou
Chris Weston
Bridget Gunson
Gary Reynolds
Janine Fear