Dr Vishal C Patel

Principal Investigator

Head of the Gut-liver Axis Group

Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology | Foundation for Liver Research

Consultant Hepatologist

The Liver Unit | King's College Hospital | NHS Foundation Trust

Contact Dr Vishal Patel:
vish.patel@researchinliver.org.uk

Vishal Patel is a Consultant Hepatologist & Endoscopist at the Liver Unit, King's College Hospital, focusing on Advanced Chronic Liver Disease (ACLD) and portal hypertension. He is a Principal Investigator and Group Lead for Microbiome in ACLD at the Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, and Honorary Reader in Hepatology within the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King's College London.

Research:

Dr Patel’s conducts clinical translational research with his lab group investigating two core themes:

The microbiome and antimicrobial resistance in the oral-gut-liver axis in ACLD (continuing work from his PhD) and harnessing novel sequencing techniques to enhance rapid infection diagnostics
Circulating cell-free DNA in chronic liver failure syndromes, linked to mechanistic profiling in different stages of ACLD and sepsis and how this interacts with coagulation pathways and immune dysfunction

His group’s work aims to better understand underlying disease mechanisms in this condition, and to identify potential targets for therapy to develop new treatments.

Projects:

In-depth shotgun metagenomic analysis of the oral and gut microbiome identifies striking overlaps in microbial community structure, virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance based on severity and stage of cirrhosis
Evaluating the role of circulating cell-free DNA-mediated coagulation dysfunction, systemic inflammation, and organ injury in chronic liver failure syndromes
Development and evaluation of point-of-care diagnostics utilising clinical metagenomic sequencing for rapid pathogen and antimicrobial resistance detection in decompensated cirrhosis and acute-on-chronic liver failure
Beta-blockers Or Placebo for Primary Prophylaxis of oesophageal varices (BOPPP Trial). A blinded, UK multi-centre, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness randomised controlled trial (NIHR funded £2.5 million) – Chief Investigator, sponsored by King’s College Hospital

Key Collaborators within the Institute:

Shilpa Chokshi and Antonio Riva
Jane Cox
Anna Hadjichambi

Team:

Dr Merianne Mohamad | Postdoctoral scientist
Ms Marilena Stamouli | Research Assistant

Students and Visiting Fellows:

Dr Themoula Charalampous | Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Department of Infectious Diseases, King’s College London
Dr Veena Ramachandran | Clinical Research Fellow, Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London
Aneesha Grewal | MBBS student, King’s College London

Key Publications:

Patel VC*, Lee S*, McPhail M, Da Silva K, Guilly S, Zamalloa A, Witherden E, Støy S, Manakkat Vijay GK, Pons N, Galleron N, Huang X, Gencer S, Coen M, Tranah TH, Wendon JA, Bruce K, Le Chatelier E, Ehrlich SD, Edwards LA, Shoaie S, Shawcross DL. Rifaximin reduces gut-derived inflammation and mucin degradation in cirrhosis and encephalopathy: RIFSYS randomised controlled trial. J Hepatol. 2021 Sep 24:S0168-8278(21)02040-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2021.09.010. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34571050.

Ton Lisman, Bethlehem Arefaine, Jelle Adelmeijer, Ane Zamalloa, Eleanor Corcoran, John G Smith, William Bernal*, Vishal C Patel*. Global hemostatic status in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure and septics without underlying liver disease. J Thromb Haemost. 2020 Oct 2. doi: 10.1111/jth.15112. (*indicates joint senior authorship)

Charlotte Woodhouse, Arjuna Singanayagam, Vishal C Patel. Modulating the gut–liver axis and the pivotal role of the faecal microbiome in cirrhosis. Clinical Medicine 2020 Sep; 20(5): 493–500. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0676

Antonio Riva∗, Elizabeth H. Gray∗, Sarah Azarian, Ane Zamalloa, Mark JW. McPhail, Royce P. Vincent, Roger Williams, Shilpa Chokshi, Vishal C. Patel#§, Lindsey A. Edwards§. Faecal cytokine profiling as a marker of intestinal inflammation in acutely decompensated cirrhosis. JHEP Rep. 2020 Dec;2(6):100151. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2020.100151. Epub 2020 Jul 30 (*indicates joint first authorship, §indicates joint senior authorship, #corresponding author)

Patel, V.C., Williams, R. Antimicrobial resistance in chronic liver disease. Hepatol Int. 2020 Jan;14(1):24-34. doi: 10.1007/s12072-019-10004-1. Epub 2019 Dec 3. Review.

Annabel Blasi*, Vishal C. Patel*, Jelle Adelmeijer, Javier Fernández, William Bernal†, Ton Lisman†. Mixed fibrinolytic phenotypes in decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF with hypo fibrinolysis in those with poor outcome. Hepatology. 2020 Apr;71(4):1381-1390. doi: 10.1002/hep.30915. Epub 2019 Oct 24. (*indicates joint first authorship, †indicates joint senior authorship)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-3628

Web of Science: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1886128

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vishal_Patel48

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-c-patel-hepatology