Dr Ian Rowe

Profile

I am Associate Professor at the University of Leeds Institute for Medical Research and Honorary Consultant Hepatologist at the Leeds Liver Unit. My research focuses on patient relevant aspects of clinical hepatology, particularly diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the impacts of treatment on outcomes, using a wide range of methods from analytical epidemiology to large-scale clinical trials.The focus of my research is on improving outcomes for patients with cirrhosis primarily through risk stratification and the early identification of complications.

I graduated in Medicine from the University of Glasgow in 2002 having completed a BSc in Pathology during my studies. I was a Senior House Officer in Medicine at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham before starting specialty training in Gastroenterology in Birmingham. Specialising in the management in liver diseases I was awarded a MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship in basic mechanisms of hepatitis C virus infection with Professors Jane McKeating and David Adams. After that I was appointed as NIHR Clinical Lecturer and completed the first clinical study of a host-targeting entry inhibitor in patients undergoing liver transplant. In 2015 I was awarded a University Academic Fellowship at the University of Leeds to build a research programme allied to the Liver Unit at St. James’s University Hospital.  SInce arriving in Leeds I have built a wide collaborative network with funded grants from the NIHR, MRC, and the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative.

I currently chair the British Association for the Study of the Liver Research Committee and I lead the Monitoring Group for the National Liver Transplant Offering System.

Research interests

The major themes in my research are: (1) to risk stratify patients with cirrhosis to identify those individuals at the greatest risk of complications; (2) to evaluate strategies that aim to mitigate those risks; and (3) to understand the benefits of diagnostic and surveillance interventions aimed to early identification of complications.

I am particularly focused on describing outcomes for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and patients with HCC.  My group has recently contributed to the development of strategies to identify patients with NAFLD, and complications of cirrhosis in electronic health records (published in Hepatology and BMJ Open).  We have also made impactful contributions in describing the causes of the placebo response in clinical trials in NASH.

Additionally, we are involved in collaborative magnetic resonance imaging studies for the prediction of post-operative liver failure and exploring biliary transporter function as a putative biomarker of drug induced liver injury.

If you are interested in discussing this work or prospective collaborations please do contact me.  I would be keen to hear from prospective MD or PhD students interested in studies in any of these areas. 

Qualifications

• BSc (University of Glasgow)
• MBChB (University of Glasgow)
• MRCP (Royal College of Physicians)
• PhD (University of Birmingham)

Professional memberships

• Royal College of Physicians

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's
• Pathology and Data Analytics