Basl Committee

Introduction:

The BASL main committee is made up of three principal officers - the President, the Secretary and the Treasurer. The chairs of the British Viral Hepatitis Group (BVHG), the BLNA (British Liver Nurses' Association) and the British Liver Transplant Group (BLTG) also sit on the main committee, as do the leads of the sub-committees covering services, research and education and training.

The work of the Committee:

The Committee works together to promote BASL’s aims within hepatology and to represent the interest of its members. Committee Members are also involved in many areas of work on behalf of BASL including contributing to NICE consultations.

The current BASL Committee Members are as follows:

President (2023-2025)*	Dr Tim Cross, Liverpool University Hospital
President Elect*	Dr Ian Rowe, University of Leeds & Leeds Liver Unit, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Secretary*	Dr Deepak Joshi, King's College Hospital, London
Secretary Elect*
Treasurer*	Dr Ahmed Elsharkawy, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
BLNA Chair*	Michelle Clayton, University of Leeds
BVHG Chair*	Prof Patrick Kennedy, Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, QMUL
BLTG Chair*	Prof Matthew Cramp, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth
Services Sub-Committee Chair*	Dr Michael Allison, Cambridge Liver Unit, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge
Research Sub-Committee Chair*	Dr Vishal C Patel, Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies and King's College Hospital
Education & Training Councillors X 2*	Dr Victoria Snowdon, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge / Dr Louisa Vine, Plymouth
Surgery Representative	Mr James Richards, University of Cambridge
Pathology Representative	Dr Tim Kendall, University of Edinburgh and Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
Trainee Representatives	Dr Wenhao Li, Barts Liver Centre
Paediatric Representative	Dr Lauren Johansen , University Hospitals Birmingham
Communications Representative*	Dr Omar Elshaarawy, Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Scientist Representative*	Dr Shilpa Chokshi, Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research
Patient Group Representative	Vanessa Hebditch, British Liver Trust
BHPG Chair	Sital Shah, King's College Hospital, London
BAAL Chair	Felicity Williams, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
Public Affairs & External Relations	President

*Governing Board Members

The Governing Board members are registered with Companies House in the UK as a Trustee (Director) of BASL.

Biographies

Dr Tim Cross, Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Dr Cross qualified from St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in 1996. He undertook general gastroenterology on the NE Thames rotation and underwent hepatology training, including transplant hepatology, at Kings College Hospital, Cambridge and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He then worked as a consultant for three and a half years in the South West Liver Unit in Plymouth before relocating to the North West. He has an interest in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Dr Ahmed Elsharkawy, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Dr Ahmed Elsharkawy has been a consultant transplant hepatologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham since 2012. He is also honorary senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London.

His clinical interests include viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, polycystic liver disease, drug induced liver injury, primary biliary cirrhosis, acute liver failure, acute on chronic liver failure, NAFLD (especially in the context of hepatitis B) and cirrhotic sarcopaenia. He has pioneered novel approaches to the management of hepatitis C in the community.

He was awarded his PhD from Newcastle University on the role of NF-kB in the hepatic inflammation-fibrosis-cancer axis. He is a research active NHS clinician and is principle investigator on a number of clinical trials; as well as a member of trial steering committees.

He is the immediate past Chairman of the British Viral Hepatitis Group and current lead of the BASL HBV specialist interest group. He has more than 60 peer reviewed publications. He is a regular peer reviewer for both publications and grants. He is keen on promoting the role of social media, in particular Twitter, and is the EASL Social Media Advisor.

Dr Deepak Joshi, Transplant Hepatologist and HPB Endoscopist - King's College Hospital, London

Dr Deepak Joshi is a transplant hepatologist with an interest in autoimmune liver disease. He is the clinical lead for HPB medicine and an advanced biliary endoscopist, specialising in paediatrics. He is a Reader in HPB medicine at King’s College London. He is a co-author of the book, Hepatology at a Glance. His current research interests include the management of biliary disease pre- and post - liver transplantation including the role of endoscopy.

Dr Ian Rowe, Associate Professor & Consultant Hepatologist, University of Leeds & Leeds Liver Unit, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Rowe trained at the University of Glasgow and, following general medical training at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, specialised in Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Birmingham.  He was awarded a Medical Research Council Research Training Fellowship in 2009 and subsequently an NIHR Clinical Lectureship at the University of Birmingham and the Liver and Hepatobiliary Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.  In 2015 he was appointed as a University Academic Fellow at the University of Leeds and Honorary Consultant at the Leeds Liver Unit.  His main research interests are in improving the outcomes of patients with liver disease and those following liver transplantation.  His clinical practice is in hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation.

Michelle Clayton RGN, BSc (Hons), MSc, PGC Clinical Education, University of Leeds

Michelle is a part time Lecturer in Liver Care at the University of Leeds and a part time Liver Nurse Educator at St. James’s University Hospital, Leeds. Michelle has over 25 years of experience in the field of hepatology and liver transplantation.

Michelle is passionate about championing quality care for people with liver disease. She has been integral in launching the British Liver Nurses’ Association (BLNA); she also holds a steering committee position on the RCN’s Gastrointestinal Forum. Michelle has a large portfolio of publications and speaks both nationally and internationally on care considerations for people with liver disease and liver transplantation. Michelle led and successfully launched the “Caring for People with Liver Disease: A Competence Framework for Nursing” in February 2013 and collaborated with Lynda Greenslade to update the framework in September 2015. She has recently been asked to join the EASL concerted action group for nurses to raise the profile of liver nursing across Europe.

In 2012, Michelle won Gastrointestinal Nursing’s “Educationist of the Year” award for her work in advancing liver nurse education and care. She is on the editorial board of Gastrointestinal Nursing and was integral in developing the journal’s Liver Nursing Supplement.

Professor Patrick Kennedy, Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, QMUL
Prof Kennedy is a Consultant Hepatologist at Barts Health NHS Trust. He graduated from University College Dublin and completed his post-graduate medical training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology in London. He was appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Hepatology at Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry in 2009.  His work in viral liver disease is known internationally and he is widely published in the field. He has produced novel work redefining disease phase in hepatitis B virus (HBV) and investigating the role of individualised treatment & management strategies for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

Professor Kennedy’s main clinical interests include viral liver disease; focusing on disease assessment and stratification using novel virological and immunological approaches. Translating these novel tools to clinical practice and evaluating their utility to broaden treatment candidacy is a key element of his work. He has a specialist interest in liver disease in young people and runs a dedicated young adult liver service at The Royal London Hospital. He also manages liver disease for professional sports people and elite athletes across the United Kingdom and abroad.

Professor Kennedy is a member of the viral hepatitis clinical guideline committee for NICE and provides expert opinion for the United Kingdom Advisory Panel on blood-borne viruses. In addition, he is a key opinion leader in viral liver disease and a member of expert advisory panels for early drug development. In keeping with his longstanding research interest and publication record in viral liver disease, he is the chief/principal investigator for a number of investigator-led and commercial phase 1, 2 and 3, clinical trials in HBV.

Professor Matthew Cramp, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth

Prof Cramp is a Consultant Hepatologist at the South West Liver Unit, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, and Professor of Hepatology at the Peninsula Medical School with a major interest in liver transplantation.

He moved from Kings to Plymouth 22 years ago starting as a single handed hepatologist and went on to establish high quality, comprehensive specialist liver services previously unavailable to patients from the southwest peninsula. This led to the formation of the South West Liver Unit in 2010 which now has 9 hepatologists and 5 hepatobiliary surgeons. In parallel with clinical service development, he has established an active program of clinical and laboratory-based research and heads the Hepatology Research Group at the Peninsula Medical School. He has contributed to national service development, policy, training and research in a number of national roles including as past President of the British Association for the Study of the Liver (2017-2019) and as one of the founder members of the Lancet Commission on Liver Disease.

He has long been an advocate for improving liver services nationally through the model of multi-professional working and the building of strong clinical networks. Examples of these include the Peninsula Hepatology Network and the SWLU/ Kings College Hospital transplant network both of which have succeeded in raising standards of care for patients with liver disease, established novel patient pathways and been used as models for service delivery nationally.    

Dr Michael Allison, Consultant Hepatologist, Addenbookes Hospital, Cambridge
Dr Allison is a Consultant Hepatologist in the Liver Transplant Unit at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. He is clinical lead for the NAFLD and alcohol-related liver disease services and his research interests are in mechanisms of disease in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic hepatitis, as well as organ assessment and optimisation for liver transplantation.

Dr Victoria Snowdon, Consultant Hepatologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
Dr Snowdon was appointed as a Consultant Hepatologist at Addenbrookes in 2018. She qualified from Nottingham University in 2003. Her first exposure to Hepatology was working with Prof Matthew Cramp in the Southwest in her medical house job, which enthused her to pursue a career in Hepatology. In 2010 she was awarded a Wellcome Trust Scottish Translational Medicine and Therapeutics Initiative (STMTI) to complete a PhD investigating renal dysfunction in cirrhosis and the role of Relaxin as a therapeutic modulator in liver disease at the University of Edinburgh, with Prof John Iredale, Prof Jonathan Fallowfield and Prof Peter Hayes. During these three years she worked in the Scottish Liver Transplant unit as a clinical fellow. She undertook her advanced liver year in Addenbrooke’s in 2014-15.  She pursued further research and clinical training at Royal Free before finishing her training at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.  Her academic and clinical focus is Hepatocellular carcinoma, Portal hypertension, Renal dysfunction in cirrhosis and education.

Dr Louisa Vine, Consultant Hepatologist, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth
Dr Louisa Vine is a hepatology consultant at the South West Liver Unit with her main interest being in Hepatocellular Carcinoma, for which she is clinical lead, the surveillance of patients with stable cirrhosis and endoscopy including ERCP. She has a strong interest in education and is education lead for the department and TPD for Gastroenterology in the Peninsula Deanery.  

Dr Tim Kendall, Senior Clinical Fellow in Pathology, University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Liver Pathologist, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

Dr Kendall's research interests are liver fibrogenesis and primary liver cancer but he provides histopathological support for many other preclinical, translational and clinical studies. He is a member of the UK Liver Pathology group research subcommittee, and he promotes histopathological involvement in trials through membership of the CM-Path Clinical Trials workstream, the NCRI Hepatobiliary CSG subgroup, and his role within the Lothian NRS Human Annotated Bioresource. Dr Kendall graduated from Southampton University Medical School, and trained in pathology in Southampton and Edinburgh.

Dr Wenhao Li, Barts Liver Centre

My name is Wenhao Li, I am an Academic Clinical Lecturer in Hepatology and Specialist Registrar in North East Thames Deanery, London. 

On behalf of the BASL trainees’ committee, I was the national lead for UK national trainee survey of hepatology which identified key issues around liver training, research and the future workforce. This was the largest hepatology training survey conducted in the UK to date and highlighted key disparities in Hepatology training, research and future consultant job planning that requires urgent action. Nationally, trainees felt least confident in managing patients with viral hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and post-transplant complications. There was significant regional variability in trainees undertaking out of programme research in Hepatology and the number of trainees intending to work as consultant hepatologists in level 2 or 3 centres were threefold higher compared with level 1 centres.

As BASL trainee representative, I intend to work with other members of the trainees’ committee and other key stakeholders to develop solutions to the issues raised from the trainees’ survey. These include BASL-led national teaching events focused on viral hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and post-liver transplant complications. I believe that BASL trainees’ committee can play an important role in improving the understanding of barriers to trainees choosing training in Hepatology/transplant Hepatology, fostering interest in Hepatology at various levels of medical training, and maintaining the commitment to Hepatology in those who have expressed interest in the field. 

Dr Omar Elshaarawy, MB BCh, MSc, MD, PhD, FEBGH, Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Dr Elshaarawy is currently Associate Professor and Consultant Hepatologist at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. He has more than 80 publications including more than 40 in peer reviewed journals. Dr Elshaarawy has been elected as BSG Representative in United European Gastroenterology (UEG) board for 2023-2026 and BSG International Committee member. He is current UEG Journal Social media Editor. He was selected as a member of the UEG Research Committee as well as a former elected member of the young talent group of UEG and the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). He attained MSc and MD degrees in Hepatology and Gastroenterology. He continued his advanced training and experimental research toward PhD in Germany at one of the most prestigious universities which is Heidelberg University and was awarded with honors. His main area of research is Cirrhosis and its complications including portal hypertension.

Dr Shilpa Chokshi, Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research

Having completed an MSc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with a MRC scholarship, Dr Chokshi embarked on  career as a Liver scientist at the King’s Liver Unit 25 years ago. Under the supervision of Professor Roger Williams and Professor Naoumov, her PhD focussed on developing immunotherapeutic strategies for Chronic Hepatitis B.  Since then, her research interests have broadened significantly from viral hepatitis to identifying novel (immuno)therapeutic approaches for alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancers. Her passion has always been to translate scientific discoveries into clinical advances, and during her career this has been enabled through close working relationships with large clinical networks, consortia and pharma, both in drug discovery and in assessing the efficacy of drugs transitioning from pre-clinical pipelines to clinical trials.

Currently, she is Acting Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology. A core part of her role is to mentor clinical academic and scientific investigators, identify priority research areas and design diverse programmes of translational research targeted at developing tangible clinical improvements for patients with liver disease. In the role of the scientific representative of BASL, her aims are to actively foster opportunities to promote engagement between scientific, clinical, and academic investigators nationwide and foster active cross-fertilisation and collaboration.