Debbie Lindsay Shawcross is a British physician and clinician who is a professor at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. Her research looks to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underpin chronic liver disease, with a focus on the gut-liver-brain axis.

Early life and education

Shawcross completed her medical degree at

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...

in 1996. During her undergraduate studies, she spent a year at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, where she completed an intercalated degree in physiology and clinical pharmacology. She moved to

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

for her doctoral studies, where she studied hepatic encephalopathy.

Research and career

In 2008, Shawcross was awarded a

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

Clinical Senior Fellowship. Shawcross investigates chronic liver disease. She is interested in understanding the immune system–gut–liver-brain axis. People who suffer from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

, a chronic disease of the liver, are likely to develop an infection that results in organ failure. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underpin this disease. Shawcross studies the molecular-level mechanisms that determine whether people cirrhosis suffer from an infection, with a focus on the understanding the behaviour of the

gut–brain axis The gut–brain axis is the two-way biochemical signaling that takes place between the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) and the central nervous system (CNS). The term "gut–brain axis" is occasionally used to refer to the role of the gut micr ...

and immune response. The gut-liver-brain axis describes the relationships between the gut, liver and brain. These relationships involve the vagus nerve, the haptic portal vein and the transport of metabolites. Shawcross has shown that people with cirrhosis have dysfunctional gut microbiome (a reduced diversity of species, as well as multi-drug resistant organisms), which can impact their likelihood to suffer from liver disease. Most treatments involve the combination of an antibiotic and a laxative, which impacts the microbiome. Shawcross believes that studying – and learning how to modulate – the gut microbiome offers promise for new treatments. Shawcross showed that bacteriophages could be used to eliminate alcoholic liver disease. In 2023, Shawcross hosted a pop-up liver clinic for parliamentarians with

The British Liver Trust British Liver Trust is a charitable organisation in The United Kingdom which has a focus in the health of the liver. Based in the town of Winchester, the Trust is made up of over 20 employed members of staff who are supplemented by voluntary wo ...

Selected publications

* * *

References

{{Authority control Living people Alumni of University College London Alumni of Imperial College London Academics of King's College London 20th-century British medical doctors 21st-century British medical doctors 21st-century British women medical doctors 20th-century women physicians Year of birth missing (living people)