Borregaard Clinical Ascending Investigator 2019
Medical specialist Peter Jepsen has received a 5-year grant of DKK 9.981.300 from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for the project “Danish-English Collaboration to Combat Alcoholic liver disease (DECCA)”.
Peter Jepsen from the Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology and the Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Aarhus University Hospital has been awarded a Borregaard Clinical Ascending Investigator 2019 grant to continue his research in alcoholic liver disease.
The World Health Organization reports that 6% of all deaths are due to alcohol abuse, primarily from accidents, violence, and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). ALD is the most common form of liver disease in Western countries including Denmark and England, yet research into ALD is neglected: ALD causes 50% of the liver disease burden, but receives only 5% of the research attention. Most deaths among patients with ALD are from complications to cirrhosis of the liver or from primary cancer of the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma).
The DECCA project will contribute new insight into the factors that determine the prognosis for patients who have ALD or are at high risk of developing ALD due to a hazardous alcohol consumption. The research team aims to reduce the burden of ALD on patients and healthcare systems. The knowledge gained from the project should be used to design screening programs for individuals who are at high risk of ALD and to optimize care for patients diagnosed with ALD.
The DECCA project will be carried out with collaborators from the University of Nottingham and the University of Liverpool. Peter Jepsen holds an honorary position at the University of Nottingham.