WebsEdge/Health

Patients with fatty liver disease and liver cancer are increasingly presenting with comorbidities including obesity and diabetes. The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Nepean Hospital is leading treatment and research in NASH – non-alcoholic steatohepatitis which is a fast progressing form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. These patients are unable to benefit from or respond to many established treatments, including existing drug treatments and liver transplants. The Department is applying clinical research and innovative, collaborative, clinical practices to help these patients. Clinical research includes DNA and RNA analysis of patient blood and other samples to help inform better therapeutic treatments (pharmacogenetics). The Department is also collaborating with Australia’s first family-centred obesity and metabolic health clinic, also based at Nepean Hospital, to help treat fatty liver disease. Teaching and training the next generation of clinicians is also a key focus of the Department with a close association with The University of Sydney and a dozen senior medical trainees and students attached to both the clinical services and research programs.