ID LIVER / Our projects / North West Research Partnership   

North West Research Partnership to improve early detection of liver disease

Background

Liver disease is one of the UK’s largest health challenges. It is a particular problem in the north-west of England, which has some of the highest rates of liver disease in the UK.

Research carried out by the ID LIVER project has allowed us to develop new and improved patient care pathways for the earlier diagnosis and management of liver disease in Manchester. The expertise developed through ID LIVER acts as a template to expand research and infrastructure into traditionally underserved areas in the north-west of England.

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) since 2023. It aims to develop and grow a sustainable research network to address the challenge of early detection of liver disease and work towards the development of subsequent research proposals.

Why this research partnership is important?

The north-west of England has amongst the worst mortality rates from liver disease (Figure 1B). This region also has some of the lowest involvement with liver disease research (Figure 1A). To address this, we established a research partnership built around the hub of Manchester.

Bringing together expertise

This partnership brings together the expertise of:

  • Public contributors;
  • Community and health infrastructure organisations;
  • Primary care and secondary care clinicians;
  • Researchers.

They discuss how best to establish new pathways of care in areas identified as most in need of intervention.

Partners

The University of Manchester