Professor Mark Thursz, Professor of Hepatology, has accepted appointment as Interim Head of the Department of Surgery & Cancer with effect from 1 August 2018, until a permanent successor to Professor Jeremy Nicholson has taken up appointment.
Professor Thursz joined the College in 1991 as a research fellow and was appointed Senior Lecturer in 1997. He was promoted to Professor in 2006. He was previously Deputy Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer and will retain his roles as Clinical Director of Integrative Systems Medicine and Digestive Diseases and Director of the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Professor Thursz’ research is focused on viral hepatitis and alcohol related liver disease. His early work on genetic susceptibility and natural history of viral hepatitis identified a number of factors which determine clinical outcomes. He is also renowned for his translational research in alcoholic hepatitis and has recently acquired an MRC Stratified Medicine award to explore novel biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and risk of infection in this condition.