Centre for In Vivo Imaging

Staff Profiles

Professor Quentin Anstee

Dean of Research & Innovation; Professor of Experimental Hepatology

Background

Introduction

Prof Quentin M. Anstee is Chair of Experimental Hepatology and Dean of Research & Innovation for the Faculty of Medical Sciences. A practising clinician, he is also an Honorary Consultant Hepatologist in the Liver Unit at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

His translational research has extended from the bench to the bedside with particular focus on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease & Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH), including the identification of genetic and epigenetic modifiers of Hepatic Fibrosis progression and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) risk. He is actively involved in biomarker discovery projects that will assist in the diagnosis and risk-stratification of patients with NAFLD and serves as the Chief Investigator of several ongoing clinical trials examining new medical therapies for NAFLD.

Prof Anstee leads the European NAFLD Registry and coordinates two major international research consortia, both addressing different aspects of translational research into NAFLD:

  1. EPoS: Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 scheme (€6 million, 2015-2019). This consortium focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of NAFLD and examining the determinants of individual risk for disease progression using a "multi-omics" translational-science approach. 
  2. LITMUS: Liver Investigation - Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis is funded by the EU Investigative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) scheme (€47.3 million, 2017-2024). This consortium focuses on the comprehensive and robust validation/qualification of blood-based and imaging-based non-invasive biomarkers that may be used to diagnose and risk-stratify severity of NAFLD. Ultimately, this will facilitate conduct of clinical trials of new NAFLD treatments and will improve the care of patients with NAFLD by streamlining their diagnosis and management.

Further details about the projects and the membership of these consortia are available on their respective websites: EPoS and LITMUS


Clinical Expertise

Prof Anstee's clinical practice is based in the Regional Liver Unit at the Freeman Hospital. His particular specialist interest is the diagnosis and treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), an increasingly common, progressive liver disease that is strongly associated with features of the 'metabolic syndrome' (including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia). He leads the regional NAFLD specialist clinical service based at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

He trained in medicine at University College London where he was awarded First Prize in Medicine in the final MB BS examination (The Philip Seth Belasco & Douglas Cree Prize, 1997). His post-graduate specialist clinical training in Hepatology/Gastroenterology & General Medicine was undertaken at hospitals in North-West London. Prior to moving his research group to Newcastle in 2010, he worked as Clinical Lecturer in Medicine & Hepatology at Imperial College London and St Mary's Hospital from 2007-2010.

He has expertise in the management of patients with a range of acute and chronic liver conditions including:

  • Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) & Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
  • Alcoholic Liver Disease
  • Chronic Viral Hepatitis
  • Autoimmune hepatitis, PSC & PBC
  • Cirrhosis and Portal hypertension
  • Liver Transplantation

Qualifications

  • BSc(Hons) - 1st Class 'Cell Pathology & Basic Medical Sciences', UCL (1994)
  • MB BS with Distinction in Medicine, UCL (1997)
  • MRCP(UK), Royal College of Physicians (London, 2000)
  • PhD, Imperial College London (2007)
  • FRCP, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London, 2016)

Fellowships & Memberships of Learned Societies

  • Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP)
  • Fellow of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain & Ireland (FAoP)
  • Member of the British Association for the Study of the Liver, BASL
  • Member of the British Society of Gastroenterology, BSG
  • Member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, EASL
  • Member of the American Association for the Study of the Liver, AASLD

Esteem Indicators

Membership of Editorial Boards:

  • Journal of Hepatology (Associate Editor)
  • European Medical Journal - Hepatology (past)

Peer Review Activity:

  • International journals including 'Nature', 'Nature Genetics', 'Nature Communications', 'Gastroenterology', 'Hepatology', 'Journal of Hepatology', 'Gut', 'Liver International', 'Journal of Viral Hepatitis', 'Mammalian Genome' & 'International Journal of Experimental Pathology'
  • Grant awarding bodies including the MRC, Wellcome Trust and NIHR.

Selected Invited Lectures at Recent National & International Meetings:

  • ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Risk stratification in NAFLD’, AASLD Liver Meeting 2021, AASLD Postgraduate Course ‘Managing the Epidemic of Fatty Liver from Obesity and Alcohol’, October 2021, Virtual.
  • ‘Progress in non-invasive biomarkers in NAFLD: Moving Beyond Biopsy’, UEG Week 2021, October 2021, Virtual.
  • ‘Biomarkers to Support Clinical Practice & Drug Development’, EASL NASH Summit, September 2021, Virtual.
  • ‘Compound Biomarkers in NASH: Integration of Multi-Omics to Clinical Applications’, Basic Science Seminar: European Association for the Study of the Liver International Liver Congress, 2021, June 2021, Virtual
  • ‘European NAFLD Consortia Update: LITMUS & The European NAFLD Registry’, European Association for the Study of the Liver International Liver Congress, 2021, June 2021, Virtual
  • ‘Genetic Targeting of Therapies for NASH & Cirrhosis: PNPLA3, TM6SF2 and HSD17B13’, AASLD Emerging Topic Conference: Current Challenges in Clinical Management and Drug Development in NASH, June 2021, Virtual
  • ‘Non-Invasive Biomarkers in NAFLD’, European Association for the Study of the Liver 54th International Liver Congress, April 2019, Vienna, Austria. 
  • ‘European NAFLD Consortia: EPoS, LITMUS & The European NAFLD Registry’, European Association for the Study of the Liver 54th International Liver Congress, April 2019, Vienna, Austria. 
  • ‘Debate: “NASH Does Not Alter A Patient’s Natural History” - CON’, European Association for the Study of the Liver 54th International Liver Congress, April 2019, Vienna, Austria. 
  • ‘How to Ensure the Quality of Data in a Registry for Frequent Diseases’, European Association for the Study of the Liver 54th International Liver Congress, April 2019, Vienna, Austria. 
  • ‘Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease’, 23rd Advanced Gastroenterology & Hepatology Course, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, January 2019, Edinburgh, UK
  • ‘Second Harmonic Generation: Fully Quantitative Histopathology Assessment for NASH’, NASH-TAG, Deer Valley, Utah, USA, January 2019
  • ‘Genetic Testing: Any Utility in Sub-Phenotyping or Risk Stratification in Clinical Trials’, NASH-TAG, Deer Valley, Utah, USA, January 2019
  • 'NAFLD: Potential Trial Designs & Suitable Study Populations', European Medicines Agency: Stakeholder Meeting on Medicinal Products for Chronic Non-Infectious Liver Diseases, December 2018, London, UK.
  • 'Non-Invasive Assessment of NAFLD & How Will We Treat NASH 5-Years From Now?', 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Hong Kong Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, November 2018, Hong Kong.
  • 'NAFLD Natural History & Use of Large Data to Risk Stratify', 2nd EASL NASH Summit, September 2018, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • 'Clinical Events: Liver-Related Outcomes', AASLD/EASL NAFLD Endpoints Conference, June 2018, Washington DC, USA.
  • 'Diagnosis of NAFLD/NASH in Clinical Practice & Clinical Trials: Biomarkers & Imaging Modalities', Chinese Society of Medicine & Chinese Hepatology Association NAFLD Monothematic Meeting, June 2018, Tianjin, China.
  • Contexts of Use & Implications for Study Design', NASH Biomarkers Workshop 2018, May 2018, Washington DC, USA.
  • 'NASH: When do I Refer? What should I Measure?', Diabetes UK Annual Conference, March 2018, London, UK.
  • 'Role of Genetics & Epigenetics in Disease Pathophysiology & Diagnosis', 2nd European Fatty Liver Conference, February 2018, Maastricht, The Netherlands. 
  • 'PNPLA3 & Other Genetic Markers for Risk Stratification in NAFLD', 1st EASL NASH Summit, November 2017, Rome, Italy.
  • 'NASH - Current & Emerging Therapies', AASLD Liver Meeting Postgraduate Course, 2017, Washington DC, USA.
  • 'Serum-based Biomarkers to Identify NASH & Quantify Fibrosis: Current Applications & Limitations', AASLD Liver Meeting, 2017, Washington DC, USA. 
  • 'Current & Future Therapies for NASH', BASL School of Hepatology, 2017 Newcastle University, UK.
  • 'Serum Fibrosis Markers in NASH', AASLD Emerging Trends in NAFLD Conference, 2017, Washington DC, USA.
  • 'NAFLD: The Role of Genetic Assessments', NASH Biomarkers Workshop, 2017, Washington DC, USA.
  • 'Natural History & Genetics of NAFLD', 52nd International Liver Congress, European Association for the Study of the Liver, 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • 'The Genetics of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease', Keystone Symposia on Molecular & Cellular Biology conference on "Injury, Inflammation & Fibrosis", 2017, Snowbird, Utah, USA.
  • 'Making the Best Use of CRISPR-Cas9 Technology' Co-chair of Early Morning Workshop, 51st International Liver Congress, European Association for the Study of the Liver, 2016, Barcelona, Spain.
  • 'Genetics of NAFLD' International Symposium, CHOZEN Project, Kanazawa University, Japan, 2016.
  • 'Steatosis and Metabolic Risk Factors: who is at risk of liver disease progression?' 11th Barcelona International Meeting on Therapy in Liver Disease, Spain, 2015.
  • 'Genetics, Mechanisms & Management of NAFLD and ALD' Advanced Medicine 2015, Royal College of Physicians, London, 2015.
  • 'NASH - Diagnosis & Current Management' Co-chair of Early Morning Workshop, 49th International Liver Congress, European Association for the Study of the Liver, 2014, London, UK.
  • 'Genetics of NAFLD & ALD' Falk Forum on Autoimmune & Congenital Liver Disorders, 2014, London, UK.
  • 'Genetics of NAFLD' & 'New Therapies for NAFLD' NAFLD: Basics to Clinical Practice - An INASL Initiative, 2014, Chandigarh, India.
  • 'NAFLD: Clinical Research Update' British Society of Gastroenterology, 2013, Glasgow, UK.
  • 'SNPs, GWAS & NGS - Making Sense of the Alphabet Soup of Genomics' APASL, 2013, Singapore.

Research

Research Interests

Prof Anstee's primary research interest is the study of genetic modifiers of progressive liver disease. His translational research has extended from the bench to the bedside with particular focus on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD/NASH), including genetic and epigenetic modifiers of Hepatic Fibrosis progression and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) risk.

Prof Anstee leads the European NAFLD Registry and was also a member of the EU FP7 funded FLIP: Fatty Liver - Inhibition of Progression consortium. He coordinates two major international research consortia, both addressing different aspects of translational research in NAFLD:

  1. EPoS: Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 scheme (€6 million, 2015-2019). This consortium focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of NAFLD and examining the determinants of individual risk for disease progression using a translational-science "multi-omics" approach. Further details about the project and membership of the consortium are available on the consortium website: www.epos-nafld.eu
  2. LITMUS: Liver Investigation - Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis is funded by the EU Investigative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) scheme (€47.3 million, 2017-2024). This consortium focuses on the comprehensive and robust validation/qualification of blood-based and imaging-based non-invasive biomarkers that may be used to diagnose and risk-stratify severity of NAFLD. Ultimately, this will facilitate clinical trials for NAFLD and improve the care of patients with NAFLD by streamlining their diagnosis and management. Further details about the project and membership of the consortium are available on the consortium website: www.litmus-project.eu

Through these and other projects he has established many ongoing fruitful collaborations with academic researchers based in the UK and in numerous international universities and with industrial partners from the pharmaceutical and biomarker industries.

Prof Anstee's scientific research has employed gene-driven and phenotype‐driven ethyl-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis screens and more traditional targeted genetic modification techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 to generate and study models of complex genetic disease traits including alcohol addiction, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, drug induced liver injury (paracetamol toxicity and antibiotic related idiosyncratic drug reactions) and liver fibrosis. He has a long-standing research collaboration with investigators at MRC Harwell and leads the Genetics of Liver Disease (UK-GoLD) network.

He is a principal investigator in ongoing clinical trials of new therapies for fatty liver disease and hepatic fibrosis.


Funding

Prof Anstee's research is supported by substantial research grant funding from the European Union (FP7, H2020 and IMI2), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). He has also received grant funding from the Wellcome Trust and Academy of Medical Sciences.

In 2010 he was awarded a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturer Award and has previously received an MRC Clinical Research Fellowship to study genetic modifiers of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) & Liver Fibrosis.

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

  • Medicine & Surgery MB BS Course (CSIM3): Lecturer
  • Medicine & Surgery MB BS Course (NME2): Seminar Tutor
  • Biomedical Sciences BSc Course (BMS3020 - Chronic Disease): Lecturer
  • Biomedical Sciences BSc Course (BGM3061 - Integrated Genetics): Lecturer
  • MB BS Undergraduate Tutor

Lecture topics include: 'Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)', 'Alcoholic Liver Disease', 'Viral Hepatitis (hepatitis C)', 'Cirrhosis & its Complications', 'Genetics of NAFLD'.

Postgraduate Teaching 

  • Medical Sciences MRes project supervisor
  • MRes (Diabetes): Lecturer
  • MClinRes (MCR8006: Designing a Research Proposal): Lecturer
  • MClinRes (MCR8004: Developing Your Career in Clinical Research): Lecturer

 

Publications