Calgary Liver Unit
The Liver Unit is made up of hepatologists who are committed to excellence in patient care and doing research that could someday, be useful in the clinic. This group of hepatologists have created a large and well-developed General Hepatology Clinic that examines the areas of viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, liver transplantation and liver cancer. The Liver Unit serves a referral base of over 2 million people. It is a well-organized clinic with a large patient referral base and streamlined approach to the care of patients with various forms of liver disease. This allows the Hepatology Group to attract many clinical trials to Calgary, thereby providing our patients with the latest and most advanced therapeutic options for the treatment of liver disease.
The University of Calgary Liver Unit conducts research in both clinical trials and investigational projects.
Clinical Trials
Sponsored by drug companies and are used to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of investigational medications for treatment of various diseases. Current sponsored clinical trials with the Liver Unit include those involving patients with hepatitis B and C, liver cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune liver diseases.
Investigational Projects
Developed and conducted locally by individual doctors at the Liver Unit and are useful for the advancement of understanding a disease and its outcome. These projects examine the general characteristics and trends of various liver diseases and may include collection of biological samples and health information. Areas of research include hepatitis B and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
There are certain criteria that must be met for you to be eligible to participate in research, and not everyone will fit. This means that even though you are referred by your doctor to participate in research you may not be able to participate in a certain project, due to not meeting the entry criteria.
If your doctor informs you about a research project and you are interested, your information will be given to a nurse coordinator to determine if you may fit a certain project. If you are found to possibly fit a project, you will be contacted by the coordinator for consent and further testing to confirm eligibility.
You are not automatically guaranteed a spot in a clinical trial or project. If it is determined that you do not fit a certain project or trial, you will not be contacted.
Please ensure that you maintain regular clinic follow up as directed by your doctor.
The Calgary Liver Unit collaborates with a number of national interest groups including:
- Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CanHepC)
- Canadian Hepatitis B Network
- Canadian NASH Network (CanNASH)
Further information about the Calgary Liver Unit's research program can be found here.