Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Professor Chris Lamb

Professor of Gastroenterology & Honorary Consultant in Gastroenterology

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 8578
  • Address: Immunity & Inflammation
    3rd Floor William Leech Building
    The Medical School
    Clinical and Translational Research Institute
    Newcastle University
    NE2 4HH
Background

I lead a translational gastroenterology research group within the Faculty of Medical Sciences and am a Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Newcastle Hospitals with a specialist interest in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD; encompassing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). I lead an integrated research programme in IBD precision medicine spanning the translational spectrum from mucosal immunology and microbiology, to clinical trials, health economics and clinical quality improvement. My laboratory group investigate the intestinal immune system, how this maintains health or can drive inflammation, and how our immune system interacts with, and is shaped by gut microbiota (bacteria, viruses and fungi) and diet. Having previously undertaken a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, I have worked within and continue to collaborate with the international biotechnology sector to best translate laboratory findings into patient benefit.

I am the Chief Investigator for the national IBD-RESPONSE and CD-metaRESPONSE studies: Defining predictors of responsiveness to advanced therapies in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, funded by the Medical Research Council and The Helmsley Charitable Trust. This programme aims to develop a predictive model of response to immune modifying therapy in IBD based on human immune, gut microbiome, metabolomic and dietary data. I am Clinical Chief Investigator for Open-IBD: Longitudinal multi-omics inception study of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, funded by Open Targets and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. I am also IBD lead for the EU funded programme, IDEA-FAST: Identifying Digital Endpoints to Assess Fatigue, Sleep and activities of daily living in neurodegenerative disorders and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. In 2023, I was awarded the Sir Francis Avery Jones medal for research excellence from the British Society of Gastroenterology and have been a previous recipient of the President's medal for outstanding contribution to the Society. In 2023 I was awarded a Rising Star by United European Gastroenterology.

I was the lead author of the 2019 British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for the diagnosis and management of IBD and the co-lead author for the 2023 joint British Society of Gastroenterology and British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition guidelines for diagnosis and care coordination of monogenic IBD. I work closely with the patient representative body Crohn's & Colitis UK and sit on the Steering Committee of IBD UK to contribute to national qualitative improvement research and clinical implementation in IBD care including development of the UK IBD Standards and subsequent national Benchmarking of IBD Services across all four nations of the UK. From 2021-2024 I was the Secretary of the British Society of Gastroenterology IBD Section. I provide expert advice on policy to several national bodies including NHS England, NICE and the King’s Fund.

I undertake clinical duties within the gastroenterology department of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Details of my clinical activity can be found at the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals website.

Research

The overarching purpose of my research programme is to improve the lives of patients impacted by gastrointestinal inflammation. I study ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, the two principal forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and several other inflammatory conditions of the gut including necrotising enterocolitis, primary immunodeficiency, immune-oncology mediated colitis and cancer. The aim of my laboratory work is to investigate aspects of the human immune system and microbes that reside within the gut to contribute to efforts in precision medicine; a concept that requires detailed immune understanding in order to provide the right drug, to the right patient, at the right time. My research group study cellular and microbial processes in human health and during inflammation to better understand how these mechanisms may trigger or perpetuate disease, how they differ between individuals and whether there are biological signatures that may be associated with aspects of disease severity or response to therapy. My group study aberrant innate and adaptive responses in leukocytes (white blood cells), epithelial cells, and also gut microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) to unravel how they impact human cellular behaviour. This type of research is essential in order to develop new and improved treatments, or to better use existing therapies.

Within the NHS, I work as part of the inflammatory bowel disease clinical research team in the Newcastle Hospitals in collaboration with patients to deliver an excellent track record of recruitment to clinical trials of new treatments in IBD and observational cohort studies. Newcastle patients have also provided strong support for the UK contribution to large-scale genetic discovery studies in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Further details of my work can be found on social media, awarded grants can be found at ORCiD and publications at Google Scholar.

More information about the IBD-RESPONSE and CD-metaRESPONSE programmes can be found at the IBD-RESPONSE website, or on social media.

Teaching

I believe teaching is of fundamental importance to develop outstanding future researchers and healthcare professionals, plus is essential to share knowledge and promote best practice amongst established scientists and clinicians. I lecture as part of the Biomedical Sciences (BSc) and Medicine undergraduate (MBBS) degree courses at Newcastle University on subjects including gastroenterology, immunology, the gut microbiome and the ethics of research. I also take part in regular clinical classroom and bedside teaching of medical students within the Newcastle Hospitals.

I frequently deliver national and international state of the art educational presentations and convene conferences regarding best clinical practice, cutting-edge research and academic leadership. During 2020-2024 this has included lectures at the Royal College of Physicians of London, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow, British Society of Gastroenterology, Royal College of General Practitioners, Scottish Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, British Society of Rheumatology, European Crohn's & Colitis Organisation, United European Gastroenterology and International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Publications