A Fermanagh research scientist has been selected as a senior scientist to work on an EU funded clinical trial examining a new form of treatment for liver disease.

Dwaine Vance from Lack will represent his employer Randox Laboratory on the EU 2020 funded research and innovation staff exchange programme.
In October, the 30-year-old medical research scientist will depart for Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche in Italy, where he will be involved in the recruitment and assessment of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Dr. Vance will then return to Randox for six months, before completing another six months in the Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale, France, where he will be involved in the analysis of samples to assess the effectiveness of the innovative treatment.

The clinical trial is called MAST4HEALTH and will take a multidisciplinary approach to assessing a non-pharmacological intervention for managing NAFLD. The non-pharmacological intervention will be in the form of Mastiha, a natural product found on the bark of trees in Greece, which was recently shown to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipid lowering properties.

The former pupil of the Duke of Westminster and Portora Royal School completed a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, followed by a doctorate in Medical Genetics at Queen’s University, Belfast. He was attracted to this project because “it really suits my background, knowledge and experience as well as my interests.” He adds: “It’s almost like a nutrition supplement from the bark of a tree and we will examine how that can have a positive effect on global health.”

Obesity is on the rise in the Western world, causing health risks such as cancer, heart disease and liver disease. “Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is one of the causes of fatty liver, occurring when fat is deposited in the liver. NAFLD is the most common liver disorder in developed countries,” said Dr. Vance. “Because of limitations in current NAFLD treatment therapies, many new efforts focus on exploring non-pharmacologic means for managing the disease and in particular through dietary substances or bioactive phytochemicals in fruits, vegetables, and plants or their products.

“MAST4HEALTH will explore the potential personalised activity of the Mastiha. The effectiveness of the proposed intervention will be evaluated via clinical and laboratory markers of the disease.
“We will be using Randox diagnostic tests to assess the blood of the patients before, during and after the clinical trial. Randox diagnostic tests are some of the best in the world.”

A range of academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies from across Europe will be involved in the trial.
Commenting on the potential impact of Brexit on the UK’s involvement in future EU-funded trials, Dr. Vance said: “This project was signed and contracted before the population of the United Kingdom voted to leave so this project will not be affected.

“However, whenever the UK does leave it may not be able to benefit as much since it’s no longer a member state – the jury is out on that one.
“As a medical research scientist, I voted to remain in the EU because it’s important for the scientific and medical community to be stronger together and this project is a classic example of that.”