News
News Articles 151 - 160 of 160
Oct
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Commenting on the editorial published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology on the new definition of alcohol mortality proposed by Office for National Statistics (ONS), Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said:
“We agree entirely with the concerns outlined in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology about the revised definition for alcohol deaths from the ONS.
“The new definition will mean that a high number of liver disease deaths where we know that alcohol is the cause will no longer be recorded as being linked to alcohol.
“This reduction will give the wrong impression to the public that alcohol deaths are going down, when in fact the burden of alcohol on our nation’s health and health service is growing, with alcohol-related hospital admissions going up, and liver disease rates on the rise.
“Medical experts across the country have warned that it is premature for the ONS to alter the definition in the way it has proposed. The reasons are technical, but it comes down to the fact that more research is needed on the exact link between alcohol and certain categories of liver disease deaths.
“We recommend that the ONS hits the pause button on the work it is doing to alter the definition of alcohol deaths, until the necessary research has been done. This research could be done quickly and cheaply, in a handful of liver centres across the country.”
The editorial is available by clicking > here.
About the Alcohol Health Alliance UK
The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) is a group of over 50 organisations including the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of GPs, British Medical Association, Alcohol Concern and the Institute of Alcohol Studies. The AHA works together to:
- Highlight the rising levels of alcohol-related health harm
- Propose evidence-based solutions to reduce this harm
- Influence decision makers to take positive action to address the damage caused by alcohol misuse
For further information, please contact Matt Chorley, the AHA’s Policy and Communications Officer, at matt.chorley@rcplondon.ac.uk or on 0203 075 1726.
Oct
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The Medical Research Foundation have recently launched a funding opportunity focused on Viral Hepatitis research. Due to overwhelming demand the deadline has been extended for applications to Friday 10th November 2017.
This funding is aimed at Mid-Career researchers, who are making the transition to independence, and will support research that will increase the understanding of the disease mechanisms underlying viral hepatitis.
This competition is open to all UK researchers at eligible institutions (UK HEIs, Research Council research institutes, hospitals, and other independent research organisations). Applicants must hold a PhD, DPhil or MD and be in the process of, or be ready for, transition to research independence.
There is up to £1.6 million available in this competition and applicants may apply for up to £300,000 to support their research, over a maximum of a three year period.
The application process is now open and the deadline has been extended to Friday 10th November 2017.
More information can be found on the Medical Research Foundation website > here.
Oct
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Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS) is a new scheme based on the work of the LiverQuest project.
The project led by the RCP London and supported by BASL and the BSG supports the national strategy to improve medical liver services for patients.
IQILS is run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) working in partnership with the Liver community, the professional bodies, societies and patient groups.
IQILS is open to all liver services across the UK and currently 18 services have signed up and are working towards accreditation. A list of these services can be viewed on the RCP website here; https://www.iqils.org/Default.aspx?PageId=66 .
Should you have any questions about IQILS please contact Madeline Corrigan, IQILS Programme Manager at the RCP at madeline.corrigan@rcplondon.ac.uk .
Sep
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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is looking to appoint a number of people with the necessary experience and skills to fulfill the following roles:
• Health service representative – up to 3 people
• Lay member – 2 people
The appeal panel is responsible for hearing appeals against our draft final recommendations in the technology appraisal (new drugs and other technologies used in the NHS) and highly specialised technologies (the evaluation of technologies for treating patients with very rare diseases and very complex healthcare needs) programmes.
When an appeal is submitted an appeal panel comprising five members is drawn from those appointed to hear NICE appeals.
The health service representative must hold an active registration with the appropriate professional body (including for doctors, a licence to practise).
The lay representative must be a patient or carer, or a member of an organisation that represents patients or carers.
Appointees will need to have an ability to draw out and articulate a balanced view on the issues arising from an appeal that are relevant to patients, carers and/or members of the public, and an ability to critique and weigh up competing arguments and make decisions (sometimes difficult ones) in meetings that are open to the public. Appeal panels are established infrequently and appointees may only need to sit on a panel two to three times a year.
NICE welcome applicants from all interested parties. For further information on the role and how apply please refer to the NICE website: https://www.nice.org.uk/Get-Involved/join-a-committee . Alternatively you can contact Maria Pitan, Project Manager – Corporate Office by email maria.pitan@nice.org.uk .
Deadline for applications is midnight on Monday 2 October 2017.
Sep
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PSC Support and UK-PSC are inviting applications from UK-based investigators to conduct, ethically approved, biomarker based, research using serum samples collected for the UK-PSC biobank during the recent re-consenting effort. Clinical data is available and ethics exist for the successful research teams to collect further data.
Grant Amount and Scope - two grants of up to £15,000 each will be awarded.
Pilot and feasibility work to enable larger grant applications will be considered.
Your research project must address PSC Support Research Priorities and have anticipated clear patient benefit, as regards potential use of biomarkers in PSC management.
PSC Support is an NIHR non-commercial Partner. Appropriate research studies funded through 'PSC Support Research Project Grants' are now automatically eligible for NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) support and therefore entitled to access NHS support via the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
Applications
Applicants should send their completed PSC Support Application Form together with additional relevant study investigator CVs, ethics approval and letter of support from the relevant Head of Department to research@pscsupport.org.uk .
UK-PSC Biobank
At present we have just under 900 serum samples stored in the Cambridge Bioresource. Serum is aliquoted and just under 2/3rds of the samples come from pre-transplant patients with PSC.
Application Deadline - 31 October 2017
Expected Decision Date - 01 December 2017
For more details visit www.pscsupport.org.uk/2017ukpscfunding .
Sep
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Please find below the news release that has gone out today to coincide with the publication of PHE Liver Disease Atlas.
BASL has been involved in helping put this together.
Sep
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A report has just launched in Drug and Alcohol Review about ' How alcohol industry organisations mislead the public about alcohol and cancer'.
The report produced by Professor Mark Petticrew, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues is available to read here; Download Report London School of Hygiene.pdf
Aug
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Fixed Term posts of 12 months
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) opened on 1 April 2017 with the aim of using cutting edge experimental medicine to accelerate access to, and adoption of, drugs, devices and diagnostics tests for patients living with chronic inflammatory diseases. The NIHR Birmingham BRC brings together the expertise of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) and the University of Birmingham, both members of Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), and is one of 20 NHS and University partnerships across England that have been awarded funding through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
We are seeking two highly motivated Clinical Research Fellows to undertake research into chronic inflammatory disease. The post-holders willbe based in the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham in the Institute for Biomedical Research. One post will involve the delivery of the Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis–Inflammatory Bowel Disease research programme of the BRC, reporting to Professor Gideon Hirschfield. The second post will involve undertaking clinical trials and other studies in patients with chronic inflammatory disease including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and autoimmune liver disease, and will report to Professor Philip Newsome.
BRIEF PERSON SPEC
We are looking for clinicians with MRCP or equivalent, a potential ability to conduct and publish their own research, strong communication skills and an ability and eagerness to work in a multi-disciplinary team. The successful candidates will have an enthusiasm to learn and will be expected to register for a higher degree.
The positions are available for 12 months with potential and expectation to extend for a higher degree and submission of a fellowship application. Salary will be at the appropriate point on the appropriate clinical scale, with placement according to qualifications and experience.
Closing date: 21st September Reference: POST NUMBERS 57808 and 57809
To apply for these jobs please visit the University of Birmingham vacancies website.
Aug
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Read an article by Professor Mark Thursz in the Huffington Post > here.
Professor Mark Thursz is professor of hepatology at Imperial College and consultant in hepatology at St Mary's Hospital, London. Professor Thursz is also the current Chair of the Hepatitis C Coalition.
