A medical student at the University of Cardiff, Sara is at NDORMS as part of her MSc (Res) in Molecular and Cellular Medicine. She will return to her fifth (final) year of studies in Cardiff in September.
The Falk Foundation/Guts UK Awards are dedicated to encouraging research and promoting patient care in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. Formally known as the Dr Falk UK/Guts UK Awards, the awards for been running for 21 years and during that time they have rewarded nearly 200 dedicated young healthcare professionals including medical students, junior doctors, SpRs, nurses, dietitians and, more recently, pharmacists.
Sara explains: ‘The three most common symptoms experienced by patients living with ulcerative colitis are diarrhoea, bowel urgency and increased stool frequency, all of which can have a significant impact on quality of life. There remains much uncertainty regarding a patient’s response to treatment and, for many, current treatments are ineffective and often an educated guess. There is thus a need to identify the characteristic cellular and molecular drivers of inflammation, the pathotype, so we can tailor precision treatment for the patient.
‘We will investigate associations between these UC symptoms reported by patients and the histo-molecular profiles of their bowel biopsies. By linking these profiles to date-stamped symptoms and quality of life experienced by that patient, we aim to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the symptoms of UC. This knowledge can potentially be leveraged in future to tailor medications to individuals and optimise care. I hope that, ultimately, it helps to improve the lives of patients, even if in a small way.
‘Prior to commencing medical school, I worked as a research assistant on TrueColours-IBD, where I initially developed my passion for gastroenterology and research. This experience gave me valuable insight into patient-centred research and the profound impact that inflammatory bowel disease can have on patients’ quality of life. Receiving this award has reinforced my interest in pursuing a career in gastroenterology and research.’
Ms Lyden’s Project Supervisors, Prof Simon Travis, Dr Matthias Friedrich and Prof Paula Dhiman at NDORMS, jointly comment: ‘Understanding the cellular basis of disease is pivotal to precision medicine, and matters to patients, especially in the context of response or non-response to current advanced therapies. Sara’s MRes is the first time that a comprehensive scientific approach has been applied at scale to everyday symptoms in ulcerative colitis, such as bowel urgency. This is an exciting project.’
Sara received her award and £1,500 prize at the annual meeting of the British Gastroenterology Society (BSG) on Tuesday June 23rd.
The ceremony took place during a dinner at the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool, with the awards presented by Dr Harriet Gordon, President Elect of the BSG and attended by other illustrious names in gastroenterology, along with the CEO of Guts UK, Ms Suzanne Hudson and Ms Maya Vlahovic, Manager of Falk Foundation UK & IE.