ATMP innovation in liver disease

Cell & Gene Therapy Insights 2020; 6(2), 207–214

10.18609/cgti.2020.027

Published: 25 March 2020
Interview
Anil Dhawan

ANIL DHAWAN graduated in medicine in 1986 and after completing his residency in Pediatrics in India, joined King’s College Hospital, London as a trainee in Paediatric Hepatology in 1992. In March 1995, he was appointed visiting professor and consultant in pediatric gastroenterology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, and USA. He relocated to King’s College Hospital, London in August 1996 as a consultant Paediatric Hepatologist. He was appointed Professor of Paediatric Hepatology at Kings College London in 2005. He became the Director of the Paediatric Liver Center and the Head of the Paediatrics department of King’s College Hospital, London in 2009. Professor Dhawan’s basic science research interest is liver cell transplantation. His lab was the first to transplant human liver cells in the UK for liver based metabolic disorders and first in the world to transplant human hepatocytes in alginate beads to treat acute liver failure in children. His other research interests are the outcome of children after liver transplantation, immunosuppression, metabolic liver disease and acute liver failure. He has published over 300 research papers and edited four books in pediatric hepatology and human hepatocyte transplantation. He has been a board member of ESPGHAN, ILTS, BSPGHAN and CTRMS and is the chair of the membership committee of ILTS. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Hepatology, Pediatric Research, Pediatric Transplantation and Experimental and Clinical Hepatology. Professor Dhawan is proud of developing basic science laboratories for research in liver disease (Mowat Labs) and the Slorech International learning hub. He has served as the President of the Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine Society.