The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales

Yeoman, AD; Ahmed, H; Akbari, Ashley; Cullen, Katherine; Davies, A; Fitzsimmons, Deborah; Gao, Jingwei; Hood, K; Nollett, C; Vincent, A; Williams, W; Pembroke, TPI

doi:10.3310/nihropenres.13663.2

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The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales

AD Yeoman

, H Ahmed, Ashley Akbari

, Katherine Cullen

, A Davies, Deborah Fitzsimmons

, Jingwei Gao, K Hood, C Nollett, A Vincent, W Williams, TPI Pembroke

NIHR Open Research, Volume: 4, Start page: 57

Swansea University Authors: Ashley Akbari , Katherine Cullen , Deborah Fitzsimmons , Jingwei Gao

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DOI (Published version): 10.3310/nihropenres.13663.2

Abstract

BackgroundThe incidence and severity of liver disease in the United Kingdom have increased over the last 20 years. Many patients present with advanced disease with limited treatment options and subsequently high morbidity and mortality. There was also a significant correlation with deprivation. Stra...

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Published in:	NIHR Open Research
ISSN:	2633-4402
Published:	National Institute for Health and Care Research 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70532

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Many patients present with advanced disease with limited treatment options and subsequently high morbidity and mortality. There was also a significant correlation with deprivation. Strategies that support the earlier detection of liver disease are paramount to reverse this trend. Despite significant progress in terms of novel pathways, the optimal strategy for early detection of liver disease remains unknown. Novel ways to tackle the deprivation gradient and reduce health inequalities are urgently required.MethodsClinical research has an enormous role to play both in terms of identifying the true scale of this challenge, where current gaps exist, and to identify the optimal early detection strategies and their implementation. We therefore established Liver Research Cymru (LRC) a multi-disciplinary collaboration that seeks to maximise the benefits from our existing data sources and clinical networks and increase the output of hepatology research in Wales.ResultsLRC has developed the first Wales wide research collaborative. We have successfully collaborated with the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) data resource to develop a greater understanding of liver disease burdens through comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary care data. We are now using this information to evaluate the effectiveness of local early detection pathways and to identify the scale of delays in diagnosis with a view to addressing this important care gap.ConclusionLRC has successfully brought together patients. Hepatologists and population/primary care academics to better understand current discrepancies in the early diagnosis of liver disease in Wales. In addition, it has laid a foundation for future research work based both on our preliminary findings and allowed us to collaborate with other more established liver disease research groups.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>NIHR Open Research</journal><volume>4</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>57</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>National Institute for Health and Care Research</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic>2633-4402</issnElectronic><keywords>Early detection, Incidence, Prevalence, Cirrhosis, Deprivation, Mortality</keywords><publishedDay>15</publishedDay><publishedMonth>8</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-08-15</publishedDate><doi>10.3310/nihropenres.13663.2</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Medical School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MEDS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Other</apcterm><funders>This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its [Health Technology Assessment (HTA) (Grant Reference Number (NIHR 154876)]</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-10-09T16:08:03.5110907</lastEdited><Created>2025-09-29T21:04:09.9939331</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science</level></path><authors><author><firstname>AD</firstname><surname>Yeoman</surname><orcid>0000-0002-0739-3332</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>H</firstname><surname>Ahmed</surname><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Ashley</firstname><surname>Akbari</surname><orcid>0000-0003-0814-0801</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Katherine</firstname><surname>Cullen</surname><orcid>0000-0002-3704-4598</orcid><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>A</firstname><surname>Davies</surname><order>5</order></author><author><firstname>Deborah</firstname><surname>Fitzsimmons</surname><orcid>0000-0002-7286-8410</orcid><order>6</order></author><author><firstname>Jingwei</firstname><surname>Gao</surname><order>7</order></author><author><firstname>K</firstname><surname>Hood</surname><order>8</order></author><author><firstname>C</firstname><surname>Nollett</surname><order>9</order></author><author><firstname>A</firstname><surname>Vincent</surname><order>10</order></author><author><firstname>W</firstname><surname>Williams</surname><order>11</order></author><author><firstname>TPI</firstname><surname>Pembroke</surname><orcid>0000-0002-2600-2034</orcid><order>12</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>70532__35292__fc000fea1a264a9fb69263b415e377e8.pdf</filename><originalFilename>70532.VoR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-10-09T16:05:43.3861134</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>4205800</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>© Crown copyright, 2025 Yeoman A et al.. This open access work is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling	2025-10-09T16:08:03.5110907 v2 70532 2025-09-29 The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales aa1b025ec0243f708bb5eb0a93d6fb52 0000-0003-0814-0801 Ashley Akbari Ashley Akbari true false 9ddf9fac6330356b51fbb9f38fd6081f 0000-0002-3704-4598 Katherine Cullen Katherine Cullen true false e900d99a0977beccf607233b10c66b43 0000-0002-7286-8410 Deborah Fitzsimmons Deborah Fitzsimmons true false 34c182010080746a0cc10e1afab6ae62 Jingwei Gao Jingwei Gao true false 2025-09-29 MEDS BackgroundThe incidence and severity of liver disease in the United Kingdom have increased over the last 20 years. Many patients present with advanced disease with limited treatment options and subsequently high morbidity and mortality. There was also a significant correlation with deprivation. Strategies that support the earlier detection of liver disease are paramount to reverse this trend. Despite significant progress in terms of novel pathways, the optimal strategy for early detection of liver disease remains unknown. Novel ways to tackle the deprivation gradient and reduce health inequalities are urgently required.MethodsClinical research has an enormous role to play both in terms of identifying the true scale of this challenge, where current gaps exist, and to identify the optimal early detection strategies and their implementation. We therefore established Liver Research Cymru (LRC) a multi-disciplinary collaboration that seeks to maximise the benefits from our existing data sources and clinical networks and increase the output of hepatology research in Wales.ResultsLRC has developed the first Wales wide research collaborative. We have successfully collaborated with the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) data resource to develop a greater understanding of liver disease burdens through comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary care data. We are now using this information to evaluate the effectiveness of local early detection pathways and to identify the scale of delays in diagnosis with a view to addressing this important care gap.ConclusionLRC has successfully brought together patients. Hepatologists and population/primary care academics to better understand current discrepancies in the early diagnosis of liver disease in Wales. In addition, it has laid a foundation for future research work based both on our preliminary findings and allowed us to collaborate with other more established liver disease research groups. Journal Article NIHR Open Research 4 57 National Institute for Health and Care Research 2633-4402 Early detection, Incidence, Prevalence, Cirrhosis, Deprivation, Mortality 15 8 2025 2025-08-15 10.3310/nihropenres.13663.2 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University Other This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its [Health Technology Assessment (HTA) (Grant Reference Number (NIHR 154876)] 2025-10-09T16:08:03.5110907 2025-09-29T21:04:09.9939331 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science AD Yeoman 0000-0002-0739-3332 1 H Ahmed 2 Ashley Akbari 0000-0003-0814-0801 3 Katherine Cullen 0000-0002-3704-4598 4 A Davies 5 Deborah Fitzsimmons 0000-0002-7286-8410 6 Jingwei Gao 7 K Hood 8 C Nollett 9 A Vincent 10 W Williams 11 TPI Pembroke 0000-0002-2600-2034 12 70532__35292__fc000fea1a264a9fb69263b415e377e8.pdf 70532.VoR.pdf 2025-10-09T16:05:43.3861134 Output 4205800 application/pdf Version of Record true © Crown copyright, 2025 Yeoman A et al.. This open access work is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. true eng http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
title	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
spellingShingle	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales Ashley Akbari Katherine Cullen Deborah Fitzsimmons Jingwei Gao
title_short	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
title_full	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
title_fullStr	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
title_full_unstemmed	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
title_sort	The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales
author_id_str_mv	aa1b025ec0243f708bb5eb0a93d6fb52 9ddf9fac6330356b51fbb9f38fd6081f e900d99a0977beccf607233b10c66b43 34c182010080746a0cc10e1afab6ae62
author_id_fullname_str_mv	aa1b025ec0243f708bb5eb0a93d6fb52_*_Ashley Akbari 9ddf9fac6330356b51fbb9f38fd6081f__Katherine Cullen e900d99a0977beccf607233b10c66b43__Deborah Fitzsimmons 34c182010080746a0cc10e1afab6ae62_*_Jingwei Gao
author	Ashley Akbari Katherine Cullen Deborah Fitzsimmons Jingwei Gao
author2	AD Yeoman H Ahmed Ashley Akbari Katherine Cullen A Davies Deborah Fitzsimmons Jingwei Gao K Hood C Nollett A Vincent W Williams TPI Pembroke
format	Journal article
container_title	NIHR Open Research
container_volume	4
container_start_page	57
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
issn	2633-4402
doi_str_mv	10.3310/nihropenres.13663.2
publisher	National Institute for Health and Care Research
college_str	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str	Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science
document_store_str	1
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description	BackgroundThe incidence and severity of liver disease in the United Kingdom have increased over the last 20 years. Many patients present with advanced disease with limited treatment options and subsequently high morbidity and mortality. There was also a significant correlation with deprivation. Strategies that support the earlier detection of liver disease are paramount to reverse this trend. Despite significant progress in terms of novel pathways, the optimal strategy for early detection of liver disease remains unknown. Novel ways to tackle the deprivation gradient and reduce health inequalities are urgently required.MethodsClinical research has an enormous role to play both in terms of identifying the true scale of this challenge, where current gaps exist, and to identify the optimal early detection strategies and their implementation. We therefore established Liver Research Cymru (LRC) a multi-disciplinary collaboration that seeks to maximise the benefits from our existing data sources and clinical networks and increase the output of hepatology research in Wales.ResultsLRC has developed the first Wales wide research collaborative. We have successfully collaborated with the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) data resource to develop a greater understanding of liver disease burdens through comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary care data. We are now using this information to evaluate the effectiveness of local early detection pathways and to identify the scale of delays in diagnosis with a view to addressing this important care gap.ConclusionLRC has successfully brought together patients. Hepatologists and population/primary care academics to better understand current discrepancies in the early diagnosis of liver disease in Wales. In addition, it has laid a foundation for future research work based both on our preliminary findings and allowed us to collaborate with other more established liver disease research groups.
published_date	2025-08-15T12:41:04Z
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The development of Liver Research Cymru, a new partnership to increase hepatology research activity in Wales

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