Imperial medical student wins prestigious national research award

A student at the Imperial College School of Medicine has gained a top prize in the prestigious 2024 Dr Falk - Pharma/Guts UK Charity national awards.

Mr Dylan Leon won the Medical Student Essay Prize for his essay on his research project, ‘Lower psoas muscle density, a proxy of sarcopenia, associates with 30–day mortality in patients with acute variceal bleeding, independent of baseline liver function.’

Once validated, Dylan's project will be useful in clinical practice as we will be able to identify patients who may benefit from intensive support post bleed. Dr Luke Tyson Mr Leon’s project supervisor

The project was carried out whilst Mr Leon was intercalating for BSc in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction. He will return to his medical degree final year studies in September.

Mr Leon received his award and £1,000 prize, at the annual meeting of the British Gastroenterology Society (BSG) on Tuesday June 18th. The ceremony took place during a special dinner at the Hyatt Hotel, Birmingham with the awards presented by the Chair of the BSG Professor Andy Veitch and attended by other illustrious names in gastroenterology medicine along with the acting CEO of Guts UK Charity, Ms Katie Noon.

The Dr Falk Pharma/Guts UK Charity Awards are dedicated to encouraging research and promoting patient care in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. Since 2007 they have rewarded over 150 dedicated young healthcare professionals, including medical students, junior doctors, nurses and dietitians. This year for the first time, pharmacists have also been recognised.

Weak muscles linked to higher death risk in gut bleeding patients

Mr Leon explains, "My project focussed on the relationship between sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and skeletal strength) and 30-day mortality in patients with acute variceal bleeding (AVB). AVB is a life-threatening complication of cirrhosis and can pre-dispose to infection, kidney injury and further hepatic decompensation.

"Whilst the prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with cirrhosis varies from 40%–80% , the relationship between sarcopenia and AVB has not yet been explored. Therefore this study was conducted to assess whether sarcopenia was associated with poorer outcomes in patients with AVB.

"Our study demonstrated that lower psoas muscle units is associated with higher 30-day mortality post AVB independent of baseline liver disease severity. Despite some study limitations, we hypothesise that introducing the psoas score as a prognostic marker could potentially enable early identification of at risk patients. This could allow for early escalation to clinical investigation or for patients with sarcopenia to receive more intense nutritional interventions, which could lead to improved patient outcomes

"Winning the award has been amazing. Being rewarded for all the time and effort put into writing the essay has been a great feeling. Looking further down the line to my career, this award provides a significant addition to my portfolio and will set me apart from other candidates when applying for speciality training posts."

Mr Leon’s project supervisor, Dr Luke Tyson, Honorary Research Fellow, Imperial College London and Consultant Hepatologist London North West University Hospitals comments: "Once validated, Dylan's project will be useful in clinical practice as we will be able to identify patients who may benefit from intensive support post bleed.

"I am delighted that Dylan has won the 2024 Dr Falk Guts UK Charity Medical Student Essay Prize. Dylan's hard work, initiative and scientific acumen enabled this finding. He is a worthy winner."

This article is based on materials from Dr Falk Pharma UK.