News

The link for open access to the article is through the Frontline Gastroenterology website and can be found > HERE 

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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.

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.

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, science or allied health roles for their research contributions in the field of hepatology.

The winner will receive free registration to the meeting, an award and a prize of £1,000 and an invite to deliver the prize lecture and present their research at the BASL Annual Meeting (8th-10th October 2025).

To apply, please send one A4 sheet outlining your research and another A4 sheet listing up to 5 related publications.

NB: one person cannot win the Dame Sheila Sherlock Research Prize and Andy Burroughs Young Investigator Award in the same year. Nor can they win a second award with the same body of work as the first.

You must be a BASL member to apply.

Please send submissions to conference@basl.org.uk before the deadline of Tuesday 1st July 2025.

BASL is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work. It is actively promoting equal opportunities and access for all our members regardless of their background.

(added 13.5.25 / reposted 26.6.25)

There are a number of opportunities coming up for members to serve across BASL and BLTG committees, so please get involved and help to shape the future of BASL.

BASL COMMITTEE POSTS:

BASL Treasurer - the Treasurer is one of three principal Officers of the Association, is elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here:  Download BASL_Treasurer_Role_Description_2025.pdf

NB: President, Secretary and Treasurer post holders must have different Institutional affiliation within the UK.

BASL Services Committee Lead - elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here:  Download BASL_Services_Lead_Role_Description_2025.pdf

BVHG Chair - elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here:  Download BASLBVHGChair_Role_Description_2025.pdf

Scientist Representative - elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here:  Download BASL_Scientist_Representative_Role_Description_2025.pdf

Communications and Website Lead - elected by the membership to serve for a period of up to three years and may be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here: 
Download BASL_Communications_and_Website_Lead_Role_Description_2025.pdf

NB: all of the posts holders above shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Director of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as a Trustee.

OTHER POSTS:

BVHG Secretary - elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once. The post holder will support the BVHG Chair, see Chair role description above.

BLTG Transplant Hepatology representative - elected by the membership to serve for a period of 2 and 3 years alternating - this post is for a period of 2 years. The successful applicant will be expected to attend and contribute to 1 face-to-face and 3 web-based BLTG committee meetings each year, and to the work of the committee.

All post holders will take up their roles after the BASL Annual Business Meeting in October 2025.

BASL is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work. It is actively promoting equal opportunities and access for all our members regardless of their background. We would, therefore, encourage you to consider joining the BASL, BLTG or BLNA committees to help to shape the future of BASL and increase our inclusivity/inclusiveness.

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 23:59hrs

Monday 30th June 2025.

Candidates wishing to be considered for nomination must be a member of BASL and will require one BASL member to propose them and a second BASL member to confirm their suitability for the role in writing. (Proposing and seconding of candidates can be done by email.)

A personal statement, containing no more than approx. 300 words, will be requested at the time of nomination from all candidates. Permission will be requested to share the personal statements with the whole BASL membership. (Personal statements are intended for this purpose only.)

If more than 1 candidate is nominated for any of the above Committee posts, the BASL Secretariat will arrange for an election of members. The successful candidate for each post will be elected by a simple majority of those members voting.

Newly elected committee members will be announced at the next Business Meeting of the Association, which will be held during the BASL Annual Meeting in Belfast on Friday 10th October 2025, and join the respective committees thereafter.

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

We look forward to hearing from you.

Please see a new report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), commissioned by IAS and AFS, exploring how governments could address the retailer windfall profits generated by Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).

As the AHA continues to make the case for introducing MUP in England, this report responds to one of the most frequent objections: that while MUP raises prices and reduces harm, it also boosts retailer profits – £65m in Scotland, and potentially £600m in England – while reducing Treasury alcohol duty receipts by around £300m.

The report considers various options to address this and concludes that the best solution is introducing a Minimum Unit Tax (MUT) alongside MUP – this would introduce a new tax floor on alcohol, similar to the existing minimum excise tax on cigarettes.

Institute of Alcohol Studies
Alcohol Focus Scotland

Decompensated cirrhosis: an update of the BSG/BASL admission care bundle.

View the open access paper on the Frontline Gastroenterology website here > Decompensated cirrhosis: an update of the BSG/BASL admission care bundle | Frontline Gastroenterology

Decompensated Cirrhosis Care Bundle - First 6 hour
Download a copy here:  Download Decompensated Cirrhosis Care Bundle 13-1-25.docx

NB: if you are using Chrome and the document fails to open click > Here
or contact admin@basl.org.uk to request a word version.