GI and Liver Diseases research group

Aims

The group of researchers at the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre (NDDC) aims to conduct international quality research relating to gastrointestinal and liver disease including clinical trials and population studies and to translate laboratory medicine and surgery into clinical interventions which improve the care and lives of our patients.

We also aim to provide a focus and facilitate collaboration for GI and liver research throughout the University and local NHS institutions.

Research issues

Gastrointestinal and liver diseases are among the most important causes of death and suffering worldwide:

• GI and liver infections such as Clostridium difficile, Helicobacter pylori (the cause of peptic ulcers and stomach cancer) and hepatitis C virus (a major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer) are scourges of the 20th and 21st centuries
• Post-infective conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, cause suffering to millions, particularly in developed countries like the UK
• Colon, stomach, oesophageal, pancreatic and liver cancer are the highest causes of cancer deaths in developed and developing countries (colon cancer is now the commonest cancer in the UK)
• Oesophageal and bile duct cancers are the fastest increasing of all cancers
• Deaths from chronic liver disease in the UK continue to rise
• Liver disease is now the 5th largest cause of death in the U.K. The average age of death from liver disease is 59 years, compared to 82-84 years for heart & lung disease or stroke
• Other diseases of the gut, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, cause immense suffering and have no permanent cure

What we are doing about....

Find out more about our ongoing and completed studies.

Outcomes

1. Award of funding for a Biomedical Research Unit by the National Institute of Health Research, focussing on patient-based translational research, particularly GI and liver infections and post-infectious conditions. 
2. Publications in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Gut and Gastroenterology. Please see the publication records under individual member’s profiles.
3. Early studies in Nottingham established the scientific basis for the national bowel cancer screening programme.

Expertise