A NEWLY qualified doctor has received a national award for her research work into very low energy diets as treatments for liver disease.

Dr Laura Heath, a foundation year two doctor at the John Radcliffe Hospital, was presented with the £2,500 Dr Falk Pharma prize last week.

The award recognises her work carried out at the Nuffield Primary Care Health Services at the University of Oxford.

She said: “A third of adults in Britain have some stage of fatty liver disease, often caused by being overweight.

“Too much fat in the liver can irritate the liver causing inflammation and scarring.

“ I was interested in this project due to the significant and increasing prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the U.K. population, on the increasing pressure on general practitioners to diagnose it, but the lack of effective interventions that are available.”

Dr Heath said that receiving the award was a ‘great encouragement’ as she starts on her academic clinical career.

She added: “The support of CORE in primary care research is really welcomed and I would hope that the role of primary care in this area of medicine is supported in the future.”

The awards are collaboration with CORE, a charity committed to fighting all digestive diseases.

The Dr Falk Pharma awards is now in its 10th year and are dedicated to encouraging research and promoting patient care in gastroenterology and hepatology.

For more information visit: drfalk.co.uk