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Professor Debbie Shawcross

Professor of Hepatology and Chronic Liver Failure

Research interests

  • Biomedical and life sciences

Biography

Group Head: Immunobiology of Chronic Liver Failure, Liver Sciences Research Synopsis: Patients with cirrhosis are predisposed to developing an infection which is frequently a precipitant of multiorgan failure and death. With poor outcomes following sepsis, the propagation of multidrug-resistant bacterial species and increasing waiting list mortality for liver transplantation, there is an urgent need for novel approaches to reducing the rate of infection. Paradoxically, these patients are characterised by heightened immune activity and rigorous inflammatory processes and are unable to contend with infection, suggesting that whilst these immune effectors are primed, their antibacterial effector functions are switched off. The precise mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remain unknown but are suggestive of a skewed homeostatic balance between protective anti-pathogen immunity and host-induced immunopathology.

The aims of my research programme are to characterise the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing this predisposition to infection focusing on the intimate relationship between innate immune dysfunction and the gut-liver-brain axis. A dysfunctional gut microbiome plays a key role in patients with cirrhosis by influencing the rate of progression to terminal liver failure and a major goal for my group is to develop interventions which normalise the gut microbiome reducing the development of complications and liver failure. I consider myself at the forefront of this field of research and am a national and international key opinion leader on hepatic encephalopathy. I am the chief investigator of several key therapeutic clinical trials in the field including RIFSYS [NCT02019784] and PROFIT [NCT02862249]. 

    Research

    Shawcross Team - Houses of Parliament
    The gut-liver-brain axis in chronic liver disease

    The Shawcross Lab focuses on the immune-gut-liver-brain axis and developing interventions which normalise the abnormal gut microbiome for patients.

    News

    'Poo transplant' trial provides hope for liver disease patients

    The UK is to launch a clinical trial of a ‘poo transplant’ that researchers believe could treat advanced liver disease and fight antimicrobial resistance.

    FMT capsules

    MPs invited to get their livers checked by researchers

    Expert researchers and clinicians have been raising awareness about the importance of liver health in Parliament by hosting a liver screening event for MPs.

    Louie French MP and Professor Debbie Shawcross

    King's hosts antimicrobial resistance awareness event at Westminster

    On Tuesday 22nd March, King’s hosted the event Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Liver Disease in the Churchill Rooms at the Houses of Parliament.

    PROMISE hosts

    Phage therapy shows promise for treating Alcoholic Liver Disease

    Study shows treating mice with bacteriophages clears bacteria and eliminates the disease in mice.

    bacteriophage

    Features

    Anti-microbial resistance: How King's are working to find a solution

    Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria change over time and no longer respond to medicines such as antibiotics making infections harder to treat...

    microbiome-course-header-2

      Research

      Shawcross Team - Houses of Parliament
      The gut-liver-brain axis in chronic liver disease

      The Shawcross Lab focuses on the immune-gut-liver-brain axis and developing interventions which normalise the abnormal gut microbiome for patients.

      News

      'Poo transplant' trial provides hope for liver disease patients

      The UK is to launch a clinical trial of a ‘poo transplant’ that researchers believe could treat advanced liver disease and fight antimicrobial resistance.

      FMT capsules

      MPs invited to get their livers checked by researchers

      Expert researchers and clinicians have been raising awareness about the importance of liver health in Parliament by hosting a liver screening event for MPs.

      Louie French MP and Professor Debbie Shawcross

      King's hosts antimicrobial resistance awareness event at Westminster

      On Tuesday 22nd March, King’s hosted the event Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Liver Disease in the Churchill Rooms at the Houses of Parliament.

      PROMISE hosts

      Phage therapy shows promise for treating Alcoholic Liver Disease

      Study shows treating mice with bacteriophages clears bacteria and eliminates the disease in mice.

      bacteriophage

      Features

      Anti-microbial resistance: How King's are working to find a solution

      Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria change over time and no longer respond to medicines such as antibiotics making infections harder to treat...

      microbiome-course-header-2