Meet the organisers
Shilpa Chokshi
Shilpa Chokshi is a basic translational scientist in hepatology, with a broad range of interests extending from her original area of expertise in viral hepatitis to alcoholic liver disease, immune mechanisms driving cirrhosis and the development of immunotherapeutic treatments for HCC.
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She is currently the Acting Director & Chief Scientific Officer for the Institute of Hepatology and Adjunct Professor of Experimental Hepatology at King’s College London. Her research programme is focussed on ‘Liver Immunology’ which aims to delineate the paradoxical immunological landscape that exists in end-stage liver disease, which encompasses a highly activated and damaging systemic immune response that is unable to defend against bacterial and viral pathogens and is unable to maintain anti-tumoral immunity. The aims of these studies are to develop and test disease-specific host-targeted immunomodulatory strategies to rebalance this skewed equilibrium to restore a state of effective anti-pathogen and anti-cancer immunity and dampen injurious inflammatory processes.
Elena Palma
Dr Elena Palma has been working in the field of Hepatology for more than 12 years. Her latest studies have predominantly revolved around the advancement of human immunocompetent experimental models, leveraging Precision Cut Liver Slices, to delve into liver diseases and malignancies.
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Dr Palma has recently started her own group and she is the Principal Investigator of the Mitochondrial Medicine for Liver Disease Lab at the Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London. Her overarching mission entails pioneering inventive treatments for liver diseases, with a primary focus on Alcohol-related Liver Disease. Her distinct approach involves multifaceted methodologies and interventions targeted at mitochondria with the aim to improve hepatotoxicity, fibrosis and liver regeneration.
Luca Urbani
Dr Luca Urbani has 15 years of experience in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and disease modelling. He is Principal Investigator of the Liver Regeneration and Tissue Engineering group at the Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, which focuses on the study of the extracellular matrix biological properties and cross-talk with hepatic and cancer cells using novel 3D bioengineered systems and organoids to recreate features of liver disease.
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He has extensive experience and track record in the study of extracellular matrix biology, the development and validation of 3D cultures, bioreactors and tissue engineering technology to model liver disease and liver cancer and have published 25 papers in this area in high-impact journals.