King's College Hospital hosts a unique 19-bedded specialist critical care unit, the Liver Intensive Therapy Unit (LITU). With a national referral base, each year it cares for more than 1000 critically ill people with liver failure and after major hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, including liver transplantation. For more than 30 years, it has been a leader in research into the pathogenesis of liver failure and associated extra-hepatic organ dysfunction and failure and the optimal application of established and novel therapies.

Areas of current active research activity include:

• Advancing the understanding of pathogenesis and treatment of liver failure through characterisation and modulation of immune function and metabolism in people with liver failure.
• Using ‘Big Data’ approaches to optimise clinical management of liver failure from the analysis of routinely collected real-world data.
• Pioneering the use of novel extracorporeal support technologies in patients with severe liver failure.
• Developing new indications for expedited liver transplantation including Acute on Chronic liver failure (ACLF).