The BSG is delighted to extend its congratulations to Professor Debbie Shawcross, who has been selected as a World Gastroenterology Organisation 2026 Trailblazer Award recipient.
The award recognises outstanding women in medicine who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and impact in advancing healthcare, education, research, mentorship, or advocacy. This award honours women who are not only leaders in their field but are also paving new paths for future generations of women in medicine.
The Trailblazer Award will be presented during the Women in GI Session on Friday 2 October 2026 at 11:15am, as part of the World Congress of Gastroenterology, taking place in New Delhi, India, on 30 September - 3 October 2026.
Professor Shawcross is a Clinician Scientist and Professor of Hepatology and Chronic Liver Failure at the Institute of Liver Studies and James Black Centre, King’s College London. She works as a Consultant Hepatologist on the King’s Liver Unit with a specialist interest in hepatic encephalopathy, liver failure syndromes and the complications of cirrhosis. She joined the EASL Scientific Committee and Governing Board in October 2022 and is currently EASL Secretary General. She is an advocate for high quality education and training in gastroenterology and hepatology having been a Health Education England London Gastroenterology Training Programme Director for 10 years, BSG Mentor and former Chair of the BSG Research Committee.
Her research programme characterises the immunobiology of chronic liver failure focusing specifically on the gut-liver-brain axis in the context of the gut microbiome as a driver of immune dysfunction, inflammation and encephalopathy. She is leading the field in clinical trials of therapeutic gut microbiome manipulation and faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in Europe and is Chief Investigator of the NIHR-funded EME UK multicentre randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial of FMT (capsules) [PROMISE Trial] in patients with metabolic-associated and alcohol-related cirrhosis.