Professor Ashley Brown Consultant hepatologist

Background

Professor Ashley Brown gained a BSc in biochemistry before graduating in medicine at the University of Liverpool in 1988. He undertook postgraduate training on the Regional Liver Unit in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he was awarded an MD for research into the pharmacogenetics of alcoholic liver disease. Following completion of his training he spent a period as a transplant hepatologist in Australia before returning to London in 1999 where he carried out postgraduate research at the Institute of Hepatology, University College Hospital. He took up his current position in 2002. 

Professor Brown has developed a major clinical and research interest in viral hepatitis. He has served as chief investigator or principal investigator on more than 40 clinical trials of novel hepatitis therapies. He is currently heavily engaged in developing policy for ensuring access and pathways into care for difficult to reach populations including prisoners and people who inject drugs (PWID), and looking at the health economics of treating hepatitis C (HCV). He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and has served on committees of the British  Association for the Study of the Liver, British HIV Association and NICE. He is former chair of the London Joint Working Group on HCV in PWIDs, and of the British Viral Hepatitis Group. He is currently deputy chair of the HepC Coalition and HCV-ODN Lead for West London. He has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, has written several textbook chapters, two medical novels and is a regular speaker at national and international liver meetings.

Research & publications

Professor Brown has a major clinical and research interest in viral hepatitis and has served as chief investigator or principal investigator on more than 40 clinical trials of novel hepatitis therapies. He is currently heavily engaged in developing policy for ensuring access and pathways into care for difficult to reach populations including prisoners and PWID, and looking at the health economics of treating HCV. 

Recent publications include: 

Foster GR, Agarwal K, Cramp ME, Moreea S, Barclay S, Collier J, Brown AS, Ryder SD, Ustianowski A, Forton DM, Fox R, Gordon F, Rosenberg WM, Mutimer DJ, Du J, Gilbert CL, Asante-Appiah E, Wahl J, Robertson MN, Barr E, Haber B. Elbasvir/grazoprevir and sofosbuvir for hepatitis C virus genotype 3 infection with compensated cirrhosis: A randomized trial. Hepatology. 2018 Jun;67(6):2113-2126

Brown A, Hézode C, Zuckerman E, Foster GR, Zekry A, Roberts SK, Lahser F, Durkan C, Badshah C, Zhang B, Robertson M, Wahl J, Barr E, Haber B; C-SCAPE Study Investigators. Efficacy and safety of 12 weeks of elbasvir ± grazoprevir ± ribavirin in participants with hepatitis C virus genotype 2, 4, 5 or 6 infection: The C-SCAPE study. J Viral Hepat. 2018 May;25(5):457-464

Gane E, Lawitz E, Pugatch D, Papatheodoridis G, Bräu N, Brown A, Pol S, Leroy V, Persico M, Moreno C, Colombo M, Yoshida EM, Nelson DR, Collins C, Lei Y, Kosloski M, Mensa FJ. Glecaprevir and Pibrentasvir in Patients with HCV and Severe Renal Impairment. N Engl J Med. 2017 Oct 12;377(15):1448-1455
Bourlière M, Gordon SC, Flamm SL, Cooper CL, Ramji A, Tong M, Ravendhran N, Vierling JM, Tran TT, Pianko S, Bansal MB, de Lédinghen V, Hyland RH, Stamm LM, Dvory-Sobol H, Svarovskaia E, Zhang J, Huang KC, Subramanian GM, Brainard DM, McHutchison JG, Verna EC, Buggisch P, Landis CS, Younes ZH, Curry MP, Strasser SI, Schiff ER, Reddy KR, Manns MP, Kowdley KV, Zeuzem S; POLARIS-1 and POLARIS-4 Investigators. Sofosbuvir, Velpatasvir, and Voxilaprevir for Previously Treated HCV Infection. N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 1;376(22):2134-2146. 

McLauchlan J, Innes H, Dillon JF, Foster G, Holtham E, McDonald S, Wilkes B, Hutchinson SJ, Irving WL; HCV Research UK Steering Committee. Cohort Profile: The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Research UK Clinical Database and Biobank. Int J Epidemiol. 2017 Oct 1;46(5):1391-1391h 

McEwan P, Selvapatt N, Brown A, Thursz M, Bennett H, Webster S, Kalsekar A, Yuan Y, Brenner M, Gordon J. A clinician's guide to the cost and health benefits of hepatitis C cure assessed from the individual patient perspective. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Feb;29(2):208-214. 

Hézode C, Almasio PL, Bourgeois S, Buggisch P, Brown A, Diago M, Horsmans Y, Serfaty L, Szalay F, Gaeta G, Planas R, Schlag M, Lonjon-Domanec I, Omoruyi E, DeMasi R, Zeuzem S Simeprevir and daclatasvir for 12 or 24 weeks in treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype 1b and advanced liver disease Liver Int. 2017 Jan 30.