News

The tenure of a number of BASL Committee Posts will come to an end in September 2019. As such, BASL are now seeking expressions of interest for the following 5 positions:

Treasurer
The BASL Treasurer is elected by the membership and can serve for up to three years, and may be re-elected once. The Treasurer is also a member of the BLTG Committee.

The Treasurer has the following duties:

• To represent the Association in financial negotiations with third parties together with the Secretary or any other person designated for the task by the Governing Board;
• To oversee the collection and distribution of money on behalf of the Association and keep records of all transactions;
• To engage and supervise an accountant who will keep the books of the Association;
• To present the annual accounts, consisting of the profit and loss statement and balance sheet, to the Business Meeting;
• To present the current accounts to the Governing Board.

The newly elected or re-elected Treasurer will take up the role at the end of the Business Meeting of the Association in September 2019.

Secretary Elect

The Secretary Elect is elected by the membership and will shadow the BASL Secretary from October 2019, taking up the role of Secretary at the end of the Business Meeting of the Association in September 2020.

The Secretary is the Chief Executive of the Association, serves for two years, and may be re-elected once. The Secretary is responsible for running the administrative tasks pertaining to his/her function and will work closely with the Secretariat, which is appointed by the Governing Board.

British Viral Hepatitis Group (BVHG) Committee Chair 

The BVHG Chair is elected by the BASL / BVHG membership to serve for a period of up to three year’s and may be re-elected once.

The BVHG is commissioned by the Governing Board to:

• Promote research and the exchange of scientific information concerning viral hepatitis;
• Foster multicentre scientific studies pertaining to viral hepatitis within the UK;
• Promote education of physicians, surgeons, clinical nurse specialists and scientists with regard to viral hepatitides and their management;
• Promote interaction between clinical disciplines to promote good care of patients and foster research and clinical trials.

The newly elected BVHG Commitee Chair will take up the role in December 2019 and will have a handover with the current Chair. 

Educational and Training Councillor
The BASL Committee has two Educational and Training Councillors and one of these posts is up for election. The post is elected by the membership to serve for a period of four years and may be re-elected once.  In addition to their role on the Governing Board, the Education and Training Councillors are responsible for Educational tasks as defined by the Governing Board, such as supporting the School of Hepatology.

The newly elected Education and Training Councillor will take up the role at the end of the Business Meeting of the Association in September 2019.

Scientist Representative

The Scientist Representative is elected by the membership to serve for a period of up to three years and may be re-elected once.
In addition to his/her role on the Governing Board, the Scientist Representative is responsible for the organisation and programme for the annual Basic Science Retreat meeting. This post is a non-clinical committee post.

The newly elected Scientist Representative will take up the role at the end of the Business Meeting of the Association in September 2019.

All of the above posts, with the exception of Secretary Elect, shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Director of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as a Trustee.

Nomination Process

Please send your nominations, clearly stating the position that your nomination is for, to the BASL Secretariat at judy@basl.org.uk by the deadline of 23:59 on Monday 17th June 2019.  

Candidates wishing to be considered for election will require one BASL member to propose them and a second BASL member to confirm their suitability for the role in writing.

If more than one candidate is nominated, the Secretariat will arrange for an election of all members. He/she will be elected by simple majority of those members voting.

A personal statement, containing no more than approx. 300 words, will be required from the candidate should an election need to take place.

The newly elected posts will be announced at the next Business Meeting of the Association during BASL2019 in September.

If you need any more information, please do not hesitate to contact judy@basl.org.uk .

Deadline: 09:00 Monday 3rd June 2019

Each year BASL presents the Dame Sheila Sherlock research prize, one of the highlights of the annual meeting. This prize is awarded annually to recognise the enormous contribution of Dame Sheila Sherlock to the development of Hepatology as a discipline in its own right.

When Dr Sherlock started her medical career, little was known about liver disease. Her work helped to establish hepatology as a medical specialty. She pioneered the use of needle liver biopsy, which had been used purely as a research tool, based on the technique of Sir John McMichael; this improved understanding of the pathology of liver disease and is used in the diagnosis of liver diseases today. The liver unit that she set up at the Royal Free Hospital became the centre for both research into liver disease and the education of trainees in the specialty.

Dame Sheila was involved in the foundation of the British Liver Club in 1961, which subsequently evolved into The British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL). She was one of our past presidents and the first recipient of The BASL Distinguished Service Award.

The winner of the award will deliver a 30 minute lecture presenting their research during the BASL Annual Meeting, 18-20 September 2019 at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. The prize is free registration to the meeting, a place at the Annual Dinner and £1,000.

Eligibility
In keeping with Dame Sheila’s enthusiasm for fostering young researchers, this eponymous research prize is awarded to young investigators without substantive posts in either medicine or science for their contributions in the field of hepatology research.

How to apply
Please send one A4 sheet outlining your research and another A4 sheet listing up to 5 related publications.

Please send submissions to steve@basl.org.uk before the deadline of 09:00 on Monday 10th June 2019.

Gilead Sciences are pleased to announce the launch of five new global grants programs to continue to support investigator-sponsored research in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV), HCV and HIV co-infection, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The programs seek to address pressing unmet patient needs in liver diseases, including improving screening and linkage to care, simplifying HCV testing and treatment, developing innovative referral pathways to help patients with NASH, addressing gaps in HBV care for special populations and understanding PSC epidemiology.

For more information on Gilead’s 2019 liver diseases grants programs, please visit https://www.gilead.com/science-and-medicine/research/investigator-sponsored-research .

The 2019 grant programs are:

HCV STAT (Simplification and Test and Treat Strategies toward HCV Elimination)
This program is focused on simplifying HCV care delivery and implementing test and treat strategies to overcome barriers to patient care.
Applications will be accepted from April 11 to June 30, 2019.

HIV/HCV NoCo (No Co-Infection)
This program is focused on investigating strategies to link patients living with HCV and HIV co-infection to HCV treatment.
Applications will be accepted from May 1 to June 14, 2019.

NASH Models of Care
This program will be focused on investigating care pathways between multidisciplinary providers for screening, identifying, and helping to refer, high-risk patients living with NASH, to appropriate medical care.
Applications will be accepted from June 3 to July 15, 2019.

HBV CARE (Linkage to CARe & Epidemiology in Special Populations)
This program will be focused on improving linkage to care among underserved populations and analysing or identifying data gaps in HBV epidemiology in specific demographics or geographies.
Applications will be accepted from August 1 to September 15, 2019.

PSC PACE (PrimAry Sclerosing Cholangitis Epidemiology)
This program will be focused on identifying gaps in PSC epidemiology data and improving understanding of the cascade of care.
Applications will be accepted from September 16 to October 11, 2019.

The Royal College of Physicians has 2 Vacancies that members might be interested in: 

1. Clinical Director, Digital Health in London - click here to view, or visit the RCP website job page here - https://medicinejobs.rcplondon.ac.uk/jobs/  .

Closing date: 4.00pm on Friday 3 May 2019.

2. Research & Academic Medicine committees: Two senior research-active clinicians - click here to view the commitee roles on the RCP website.

Closing date: Friday 3 May 2019.

BASL has set up a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which are linked to the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN) topic areas.

The End of Life SIG has been active for one year, with an initial lead appointed by the BASL Committee. BASL is now seeking nominations for an elected Lead for this SIG.

Eligibility requirements:

• All nominees should be members of the End of Life SIG, as a BASL member or as an associate member of BASL through being a member of the SIG

• Each nominee should have a proposer and seconder, who should also be BASL members or associate members through the End of Life SIG

• The initial Lead can stand for election once

• Should a contested election be held, BASL / End of Life SIG members may vote in this

• The elected Lead will serve for two years, when there will be a further election.

Nomination process:

Please send nominations to the BASL Secretariat at Samantha@basl.org.uk by 17:00 on 22nd March 2019

If more than one candidate is nominated, the Secretariat will arrange for an election, in which all BASL / End of Life SIG members may vote

Should an election be required, candidates will need to submit a personal statement of up to 300 words

The successful candidate will be elected by a simple majority of those members voting

Any queries should be addressed to Samantha@basl.org.uk.

The role of the SIG Lead
A SIG is expected to meet at least once a year. The BASL secretariat provides administrative support for SIGs, which includes creating and maintaining SIG member databases, arranging meetings and associated materials, and arranging publicity.

The role of the SIG Lead includes:

• Chairing SIG meetings and co-ordinating actions to be pursued

• Helping to co-ordinate bids for funding for trials and other research, and linking with the NIHR and other funders

• Ensuring the SIG is recognised and supported within the Metabolic CRN topic area

• Reporting on SIG activities to BASL, in particular via liaison with BASL’s Research Subcommittee.