British Liver Transplant Group
Introduction:
The BLTG (British Liver Transplant Group) was formed in 2014 to represent the professional interests of liver transplantation in the UK and promote strategic and academic development.
BLTG’s purpose is to improve the education, management and quality of research on liver transplantation.
The BLTG Chair is the voice of transplant professionals at the NHSBT Liver Advisory Group.
BLTG is a special interest society of BASL and aims to work with other national and international societies to represent transplant professionals.
BLTG’s current priorities are to:
- have a patient centred focus, involving patient representatives in its membership and promoting collaboration between centres to harmonise practice and reduce unwanted variation.
- promote communication and collaboration amongst the membership via regular newsletters, webinars and the annual meeting.
- foster closer working with BTS (British Transplant Society) to better represent all health professionals involved in liver transplantation.
BLTG Annual Transplant Meeting - October
The annual BLTG meeting brings together all professionals in the UK with an interest in liver transplantation. The meeting links to the BASL Annual Meeting and incorporates the Williams-Calne Lecture which honours past achievements in UK transplantation and promotes future developments. The meeting incorporates a mixture of case discussion, audit and scientific presentations with the winner of the Andy Burroughs Young Investigator Award delivering their prize lecture during the meeting.
Further details can be found on the Events page of the website and on the standalone conference website > Here .
BLTG Transplant School Webinar Series 2025
The BASL BLTG School of Transplantation offers an excellent platform for all healthcare professionals with lectures delivered by carefully selected leading speakers.
BLTG are pleased to announce a second series of bi-monthly webinars.
Webinar time: 18:30 - 19:30 (London)
Format: short case presentation followed by a talk and then 10-20 minutes of questions and discussion.
Programme - more dates to be added
- 6th February: Post transplant lymphoproliferative disorders - now available to members on catch up via the members area of the website
Speakers: Dr Huw Pursell and Dr Sridhar Chaganti - 3rd April: Organ Allocation - now available to members on catch up via the members area of the website
Speakers: Dr Laurence Hopkins (fellow), University Hospitals Birmingham - case presentation and Dr Ian Rowe, University of Leeds - 4th June: HHV8 post-transplant - Time: 18:30 - 19:30pm, Speaker: Dr Gwilym Webb, Cambridge University Hospital - REGISTER > HERE
Not a BASL member? Why not consider joining > HERE
BLTG UK Liver Critical Care & Anaesthesia Transplant School Webinar Series
The BASL BLTG School of Transplantation offers an excellent platform for all healthcare professionals with lectures delivered by carefully selected leading speakers.
The 2023-24 BLTG UK Liver Critical Care and Anaesthesia Transplant School was a series of monthly webinars (held via Zoom), aimed at promoting education and sharing knowledge amongst the seven UK Liver Transplant centres. We covered a wide variety of topics relevant to the perioperative and critical care management of these patients, delivered by expert clinicians from around the UK and the world.
BASL members can watch the series on catch up via the BASL website members area.
The programme for the series can be viewed here: Download BLTG UK Liver Critical Care & Anaesthesia Transplant School Webinar Series 2023-2024_website v4.pdf
Visit the Events page for details of the current webinar series.
British Transplant Physician Trainees
British Transplant Physician Trainees (BTPT) is a group of UK physician trainees, researchers and fellows passionate about solid organ transplantation across a range of medical specialties. The society was founded in April 2023 and seeks to promote engagement amongst like-minded physician trainees and provide educational, training and academic opportunities to help further their careers.
Find out more on the groups website here > https://www.btpt.co.uk/ .
The BLTG Committee
| BLTG Chair | Professor Matthew Cramp, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth |
| BLTG Elect Chair | Dr James Ferguson, University Hospitals Birmingham |
| BLTG Secretary | Dr Brian Hogan, Royal Free Hospital, London |
| Conference and Education Lead | Dr Oliver Tavabie, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust |
| Transplant Hepatology representative | Dr Jonathan Potts, Royal Free Hospital, London |
| Transplant Surgery Representative | Mr Benoy Babu, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh |
| Pathology representative | Dr Anna Patterson, Cambridge |
| Pharmacy representative | Fatema Jessa, Royal Free, London |
| BSG representative | Dr Nwe Ni Than, University Hospital Coventry NHS Trust |
| Transplant Co-ordinator | Deidre Sexton, Royal Free Hospital, London |
| Nursing Representative | Katie Quist, Royal Free Hospital, London |
| Paediatric representative | Dr Rob Hegarty, Kings College Hospital, London |
| Patient Representative | Mark Chatterley, PSC Support |
| Patient Representative | Karen Rockell, UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network |
| BASL representative (Treasurer) | Dr Ahmed Elsharkawy, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham |
| BTS Representative | Mr Shahid Farid, Leeds Teaching Hospital |
| Substance misuse specialists (SMSLT) representative | Kathryn Rothwell, Leeds Teaching Hospital |
| Anaesthetic Representative | Dr Suehana Rahman, Royal Free Hospital, London |
| ITU Representative |
Dr Tasneem Pirani, Kings College Hospital, London |
| Dietician Representatives |
Catherine McAnenny, Scottish Liver Transplant Unit, Royal Infirmary Edinburgh |
| Physiotherapy Representative | Suzanne Lester, Royal Belfast Hospital |
| Physiotherapy Representative | Felicity Williams, University Hospitals Birmingham |
Prof Matthew Cramp Consultant Hepatologist, 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 James Fergson, University Hospitals Birmingham
Dr Ferguson is a transplant Hepatologist based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He is the clinical lead for the IQILS project, was the treasurer of BASL and a co-author of the recent lancet commission on liver disease in the UK.
Dr Brian Hogan, Royal Free Hospital, London
Brian is the Lead Clinician in Liver Critical Care at Royal Free London, specialising in critical care for patients with liver failure and those needing liver transplantation. Prior to being appointed at Royal Free London, he was a Consultant Hepatologist and Intensivist at King's College Hospital. He qualified from University College London Medical School and completed specialist training in Critical Care Medicine, Hepatology and Liver Transplant at The Royal Free Hospital and at King's College Hospital. His research at University College London (UCL) was focused on novel methods of assessing portal hypertension in patients with severe liver disease. He aims to support high quality care, equity of access for patients and reduced unwanted variation through regional national collaborations.
Dr Oliver Tavabie, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
I am a Consultant Hepatologist based at the Leeds Liver Unit. I graduated from the University of Southampton in 2010 and have undertaken specialist Hepatology training at the Royal London, Royal Free and King’s College Hospital. My clinical and research interests span across liver failure syndromes and liver transplantation. I undertook a research fellowship in the Regenerative Medicine group at the Institute of Liver Studies at King’s college Hospital and was awarded the Roy Calne award by the British Transplantation Society for my work developing novel microRNA based prognostic models in acute liver failure. I have an interest in clinical research and was awarded Andy Burroughs award by British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL) for my work investigating outcomes for patients with decompensated cirrhosis across the UK. I have a strong interest in Medical Education and have previously had formal teaching roles at the University of St Andrews and developed and led the Virtual School of Hepatology during my time as BASL Trainee Rep.
Dr Jonathan Potts, Royal Free Hospital
Jon has been a Transplant Hepatologist and biliary endoscopist at the Royal Free Hospital since 2018. He undertook a PhD in Brighton focused on alcohol-related liver disease and then trained in the South Thames region, working at King’s College, the Royal London and the Royal Free Hospital liver units. He developed an interest in both liver transplantation and biliary disorders, and undertook fellowships at both the Royal Free and UCLH. His time is split between care of patients pre and post transplant, and running the tertiary biliary endoscopy service of the Royal Free. He is passionate about improving patient care, and also the experience of those undergoing PB endoscopy.
Dr Anna Patterson, Cambridge
Anna is a Consultant Histopathologist at Cambridge University Hospitals subspecialising in hepatic, pancreatic and renal pathology and is the lead for hepatopancreatobiliary pathology. She has a particular interest in transplant pathology including strategies to improve donor organ preservation and utilisation.
Fatema Jessa, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Fatema is a consultant pharmacist for hepatology and liver transplant at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. With extensive expertise in managing complex pharmaceutical care, Fatema is dedicated to improving patient outcomes through innovation, collaboration and excellence in clinical practice. She established the first pharmacist-led hepatology clinic at RFH, led cross-site service change, and developed a digital shared care interface to improve medication access. She has contributed to national guidelines, influenced policy in liver transplant and serves as a NICE expert adviser. Additionally, Fatema regularly presents at national conferences, lectures pharmacy undergraduates and has authored publications in the Pharmaceutical Journal. Fatema has worked across primary, secondary, and tertiary care and has national-level experience having completed the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s Clinical Fellowship at NICE. She is a leadership mentor for the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association, co-chair of the North Central London Digital Pharmacy Group and chair of the UK Liver Transplant Pharmacists Group. Fatema is currently pursuing an MBA to further enhance her leadership and strategic capabilities.
Dr Nwe Ni Than (MBBS, MD, FRCP), University Hospital Coventry NHS Trust
Dr Than is a consultant Hepatologist based at the University Hospital Coventry NHS Trust. She qualified from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2006. She was trained in many transplant centres such as Royal Infirmary Hospital In Edinburgh, University Hospital Birmingham and Royal Free Hospital. She completed the NIHR funded research at the University of Birmingham in 2018 and her research is b focused on haematopoietic stem cell therapy in patients with liver cirrhosis. She had also worked as a clinical fellow at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. She looks after patients with acute and chronic liver diseases as well as after liver transplantation. She has a keen interest in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and autoimmune liver disease.
Dr Suehana Rahman, Royal Free Hospital, London
Dr Rahman MBBS BSc (Hons) FRCA, is a Consultant Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant Anaesthetist at the Royal Free Hospital, London. During her transplant fellowship she undertook research in cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and acute kidney injury after transplantation. She is an active member of the Royal Free Perioperative Research Group and current anaesthetic representative for the British Liver Transplant Group.
Catherine McAnenny, Scottish Liver Transplant Unit, Royal Infirmary Edinburgh
Catherine McAnenny qualified as a dietitian in 1997. She started her career off in Scotland but moved to London in 2000 and worked in UCLH, working in the clinical areas of Haematology, the Teenage Cancer Unit, and the Adolescent unit. She also worked in university hospital Lewisham working in the clinical areas of Critical Care and Infectious Diseases. On moving back to Edinburgh, she worked in the Regional Infectious diseases unit before securing the lead dietetic post in the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in 2004. She is a member of the UK & ROI hepatology specialist Dietitian Group.
Suzanne Lester, Royal Belfast Hospital
Suzanne is an Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner in Liver Transplantation and Prehabilitation. She is also an R&D Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast. She is in her first year of a 3-year PhD researching the co-design and feasibility of a remote multicomponent intervention for patients awaiting liver transplantation. Additional research interests include respiratory interventions and training, rehabilitation and exercise psychology in patients awaiting liver transplantation and the wider liver disease population.
Felicity Williams, University Hospitals, Birmingham
Felicity is a Senior Liver Physiotherapist and NIHR Clinical Research Fellow at University Hospitals Birmingham and University of Birmingham. She is in her final year of completing her PhD on the assessment of sarcopenia in end-stage liver disease. Further research interests include prehabilitation, rehabilitation and physical activity in patients awaiting liver transplantation.
