Dr Vishal Patel

Vishal Patel is a Consultant Hepatologist & Endoscopist at the Liver Unit, King’s College Hospital, focusing on Advanced Chronic Liver Disease (ACLD) and managing complications related to portal hypertension. He is a Principal Investigator and Group Lead for ACLD with his research group based at the Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, and is an Adjunct Reader in Hepatology within the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King’s College London.

His laboratory group focuses on translational research on the oral-gut-liver axis in cirrhosis, evolving from his doctorate research, and the life-threatening infection-related complications that patients with ACLD face their exposure. This is in an era of ongoing high level antibiotic use as a cornerstone of treatment and the ever-escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance. His group is now focused on metagenomic profiling with primary interests based around characterising and understanding the pathophysiological role of the microbiome in driving chronic liver failure syndromes, and non-antimicrobial-based therapeutic interventions that can more effectively target oral-gut dysbiosis, pathological bacterial translocation and immune dysfunction.

Linked to this is the ongoing ‘Rapid Infection Diagnostics in Cirrhosis’ (RIDiC) study evaluating the role of novel sequencing-based approaches as a means to combat AMR, in industry collaboration with Oxford Nanopore Technologies. His research group has active works-streams evaluating the role of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and coagulation dysfunction in chronic liver failure syndromes where epigenetic profiling of cfDNA is being used as a novel approach to assess ‘hidden’ organ dysfunction.

He independently set up the ”Gut-Liver Axis in Liver Failure Syndromes” study to facilitate biological material acquisition and data generation for his doctoral thesis. This NIHR Clinical Research Network portfolio-adopted study has now recruited over 1,000 patients and healthy volunteers. The GLA study is now being converted into a formal research tissue bank (‘LIVER-BIOME’) with plans to expand certain work-streams and facilitate further collaborative research with other groups.

Vishal is involved in several observational and interventional studies in chronic liver failure syndromes, including acute alcoholic hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, and faecal microbial transplantation in cirrhosis. He has significant study set up and trial delivery experience and expertise, having also been involved in the non-hepatology interventional trial portfolio during the COVID19 pandemic.

He is Chief Investigator of the NIHR-funded £2.5 million BOPPP trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03776955) evaluating the effectiveness of non-selective beta-blockers to prevent hepatic decompensation in patients with small oesophageal varices and cirrhosis. BOPPP is currently the largest trial in portal hypertension globally, aiming to recruit 740 patients working with 55 UK site partners, with the trial set to run over a 6 year period. He also is the Liver Research Delivery Unit Clinical Lead at King's College Hospital, overseeing one of the largest trial portfolios of non-commercial and commercial studies in Europe.

Vishal enjoys collaborating with colleagues within King’s Health Partners and the European hepatology and gastroenterology community. He is a Gut Microbiota for Health Expert Panel member (British Society for Gastroenterology Research Section), and joint BSG-BASL Liver Research Development Group member, where national strategy for hepatology research is formulated.

Vishal Patel: "Chronic liver disease is a condition which I am dedicated to treating clinically and still represents so much unmet need. Translational research in this area is pivotal to improving patient outcomes and quality of life in those that are afflicted. My group in collaboration with others are determined to make real progress in this area."

You can find more information about Vishal's publications and work with the following links:

• Publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/vishal.patel.7/bibliography/public/
• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-3628
• BOPPP trial: https://www.boppp-trial.org

Teaching

• Vishal is a teacher on the course: Microbiome in Health & Disease MSc