Prof Tom Bird

Liver Cancer, Disease and Regeneration

Liver cancer is now the third most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide; with a trebling in incidence in the UK in the last 25 years. This is driven by underlying liver diseases, including those related to obesity, diabetes mellitus and alcohol consumption. Our group works at the interface of clinical care and the development of preclinical models to study liver biology. Understanding how liver cancer forms and evolves will allow us to target that tumour with precision medicine. We want to be part of improving outcomes for these patients, both in Scotland and across the globe.

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Biography

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Recent Publications

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Biography

Education and qualifications

2015: Certificate of completion of training: Gastroenterology and Hepatology
2012: Specialty Certificate, Gastroenterology, Royal College of Physicians
2011: PhD, Liver Regeneration by Hepatic Progenitor Cells, University of Edinburgh
2005: MRCP, Medicine, Royal College of Physicians
2003: MA, Physiological Sciences, Oxford University
2002: BM BCh, Medicine, Oxford University
1999: BA (1st Class), Physiological Sciences, Oxford University

Appointments

2020: Reader, University of Edinburgh
2016: Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow
2015: Honorary Consultant Hepatologist, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Scottish Liver Transplant Unit
2013–2014: Hepatology Subspecialty Year, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
2011–2015: Clinical Lecturer in Hepatology, University of Edinburgh/Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
2010–2011: ST Gastroenterology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
2007–2010: Clinical Training Fellow, University of Edinburgh
2006–2007: Clinical Fellow, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
2005–2006: ST3 Renal and Liver Transplantation, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
2003–2005: Medical Senior House Officer, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
2003: Surgical Pre-Registration House Officer, Royal United Hospital, Bath
2002–2003: Medical Pre-Registration House Officer, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

Honours and awards

UEG Rising Star award, 2019 – annual award by United European Gastroenterology
Francis Avery Jones Medal Winner, 2019 – annual award by the British Society of Gastroenterology
Andy Burroughs Young Investigator Award, 2015
British Society of Gastroenterology: Young Gastroenterologist of the Year – Clinical & Translational Science, 2015
Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship, 2015
Wilfred Card Lectureship, 2014
Academy of Medical Sciences Start Grant for Clinical Lecturers, 2012
Sheila Sherlock Prize, 2011
ESOT Prize for scientific presentation, 2011
Anne Ferguson Prize, 2009
EASL travel bursary, 2009
Miss Urquart Charitable Trust Award, 2007
Wellcome Clinical Research Training Fellowship, 2007
BSG Travelling Fellowship, 2006
Griffith’s Memorial Travelling Scholarship, 2001
Representative for the Queen’s Award for Higher Education and Training, 2001
Martin Lawrence Memorial Scholarship, 2001
Paul Hayes Memorial Scholarship, 2000
Hobson Mann Oxford University Clinical Medical School Scholarship, 2000
Wronker dissertation prize, 1999

Recent Publications

2026

Kelly ME, Huerta-Uribe A, Cerná M, Hughes KB, Ahmed H, Fernandes MF, Rattigan KM, Deshmukh R, Moura DS, Arya S, May S, Müller M, Drake TM, Georgakopoulou A, Bird TG, Hisbergues M, Piessen G, Stewart AJ, Watson AJB, Sumpton D, Villar VH. L-pentahomoserine correlates with therapy outcome in esophageal cancer and promotes metabolic adaptations that support cell survival under nutrient-deprived conditions. bioRxiv. 2026:2026.2001.2015.699640.

Krishna A, Meynert A, Dolt KS, Kelder M, Mesropian A, Ewing A, Brouwers C, Claassens JW, Linssen MM, Sheraz S, Taylor GC, Gautier P, Ferrer-Vaquer A, Grimes G, Becher H, Silk R, Gris-Oliver A, Pinyol R, Semple CA, Kendall TJ, Bird TG, Hadjantonakis AK, Marsh JA, Llovet JM, Hohenstein P, Wood AJ, Ozdemir DD. Mutational scanning reveals oncogenic CTNNB1 mutations have diverse effects on signaling. Nat Genet. 2026.

Raffo-Iraolagoitia XL, Alyamani A, May S, Stevenson D, Mackintosh A, McGarry L, Anand J, Soloviev D, Brown G, Nixon C, Kapeni C, De La Roche M, Blyth K, Bird TG, Strathdee D, Lyons SK, Fruhwirth G, Carlin LM, Lewis DY. Multiscale in vivo imaging of tumor evolution using a germline conditional triple-reporter mouse. Nat Biotechnol. 2026.

Raven A, Gilroy K, Jin H, Waldron JA, Leslie H, Munro J, Hall H, Ridgway RA, Ford CA, Gulhan DC, Vlahov N, Mills ML, Hartley A, Anderson E, Bryson S, Sphyris N, Müller M, May S, Cadden B, Nixon C, Waddell SH, Guest R, Boulter L, Barker N, Clevers H, Zhu H, Ivaska J, Strathdee D, Miller CJ, Jamieson NB, Bushell M, Park PJ, Bird TG, Sansom OJ. Hepatic zonation determines tumorigenic potential of mutant β-catenin. Nature. 2026;649(8097):739–748.

2025

Baird RL, Mason D, Rakovic K, Ballantyne F, Powley IR, Georgakopoulou A, Hillary L, Bird TG, Officer-Jones L, Le Quesne J. PixlMap: A generalisable pixel classifier for cellular phenotyping in multiplex immunofluorescence images. PLoS One. 2025;20(12):e0317865.

May S, Stevenson K, Alqarafi B, Yin Swe KL, Bloom A, Mackintosh A, Müller M, Georgakopoulou A, Drake TM, Kiourtis C, Karim SA, Nixon C, Cadden B, Duffton A, Grose D, Lewis DY, Blyth K, Chalmers AJ, Bird TG. A precision image-guided murine model of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. Dis Model Mech. 2025.

Müller M, May S, Hall H, Kendall TJ, McGarry L, Blukacz L, Nuciforo S, Georgakopoulou A, Jamieson T, Phinichkusolchit N, Dhayade S, Suzuki T, Huguet-Pradell J, Powley IR, Officer-Jones L, Pennie RL, Esteban-Fabró R, Gris-Oliver A, Pinyol R, Skalka GL, Leslie J, Hoare M, Sprangers J, Malviya G, Mackintosh A, Johnson E, McCain M, Halpin J, Kiourtis C, Nixon C, Clark G, Clark W, Shaw R, Hedley A, Drake TM, Tan EH, Neilson M, Murphy DJ, Lewis DY, Reeves HL, Le Quesne J, Mann DA, Carlin LM, Blyth K, Llovet JM, Heim MH, Sansom OJ, Miller CJ, Bird TG. Human-correlated genetic models identify precision therapy for liver cancer. Nature. 2025.

Raven A, Gilroy K, Jin H, Waldron JA, Leslie H, Munro J, Hall H, Ridgway RA, Ford CA, Gulhan DC, Vlahov N, Mills ML, Hartley A, Anderson E, Bryson S, Sphyris N, Müller M, May S, Cadden B, Nixon C, Waddell SH, Guest R, Boulter L, Barker N, Clevers H, Zhu H, Ivaska J, Strathdee D, Miller CJ, Jamieson NB, Bushell M, Park PJ, Bird TG, Sansom OJ. Hepatic zonation determines tumorigenic potential of mutant β-catenin. Nature. 2025;649:739-748.

2024

Garay OU, Ambühl LE, Bird TG, Barnes E, Irving WL, Walkley R, Rowe IA. Cost-effectiveness of HCC Surveillance Strategies in Patients With Compensated Liver Cirrhosis in the United Kingdom. Value Health. 2024.

Kiourtis C, Terradas-Terradas M, Gee LM, May S, Georgakopoulou A, Collins AL, O’Sullivan ED, Baird DP, Hassan M, Shaw R, Tan EH, Müller M, Engelmann C, Andreola F, Hsieh Y-C, Reed LH, Borthwick LA, Nixon C, Clark W, Hanson PS, Sumpton D, Mackay G, Suzuki T, Najumudeen AK, Inman GJ, Campbell A, Barry ST, Quaglia A, Morris CM, LeBeau FEN, Sansom OJ, Kirschner K, Jalan R, Oakley F, Bird TG. Hepatocellular senescence induces multi-organ senescence and dysfunction via TGFβ. Nature Cell Biology. 2024.

Matchett KP, Wilson-Kanamori JR, Portman JR, Kapourani CA, Fercoq F, May S, Zajdel E, Beltran M, Sutherland EF, Mackey JBG, Brice M, Wilson GC, Wallace SJ, Kitto L, Younger NT, Dobie R, Mole DJ, Oniscu GC, Wigmore SJ, Ramachandran P, Vallejos CA, Carragher NO, Saeidinejad MM, Quaglia A, Jalan R, Simpson KJ, Kendall TJ, Rule JA, Lee WM, Hoare M, Weston CJ, Marioni JC, Teichmann SA, Bird TG, Carlin LM, Henderson NC. Multimodal decoding of human liver regeneration. Nature. 2024.

2023

Krishna A, Meynert A, Kelder M, Ewing A, Sheraz S, Ferrer-Vaquer A, Grimes G, Becher H, Silk R, Semple CA, Kendall T, Hadjantonakis A-K, Bird T, Marsh JA, Hohenstein P, Wood AJ, Ozdemir DD. Mutational scanning reveals oncogenic CTNNB1 mutations have diverse effects on signalling and clinical traits. bioRxiv. 2023:2023.2011.2009.566307.

May S, Müller M, Livingstone CR, Skalka GL, Walsh PJ, Nixon C, Hedley A, Shaw R, Clark W, Voorde JV, Officer-Jones L, Ballantyne F, Powley IR, Drake TM, Kiourtis C, Keith A, Rocha AS, Tardito S, Sumpton D, Le Quesne J, Bushell M, Sansom OJ, Bird TG. Absent expansion of AXIN2+ hepatocytes and altered physiology in Axin2CreERT2 mice challenges the role of pericentral hepatocytes in homeostatic liver regeneration. J Hepatol. 2023;78:1028-1036.

Moore M, Pardo L, Mitchell L, Schmidt T, May S, Mueller M, Strathdee D, Bryson S, Hodge K, Lilla S, Zanivan S, Waldron J, McGarry L, Peter-Durairaj R, Kanellos G, Nixon C, Ballantyne F, LeQuesne J, Sansom OJ, Bird T, Bushell M, Norman JC. The eIF4A2 negative regulator of mRNA translation promotes extracellular matrix deposition to accelerate hepatocellular carcinoma initiation. bioRxiv. 2023;Volume:2023.2008.2016.553544.

Villar VH, Allega MF, Deshmukh R, Ackermann T, Nakasone MA, Vande Voorde J, Drake TM, Oetjen J, Bloom A, Nixon C, Müller M, May S, Tan EH, Vereecke L, Jans M, Blancke G, Murphy DJ, Huang DT, Lewis DY, Bird TG, Sansom OJ, Blyth K, Sumpton D, Tardito S. Hepatic glutamine synthetase controls N5-methylglutamine in homeostasis and cancer. Nature Chemical Biology. 2023;19:292-300.

May S, Bird TG. How the liver keeps itself in shape. Elife. 2023;12.

2022

Humpton TJ, Hall H, Kiourtis C, Nixon C, Clark W, Hedley A, Shaw R, Bird TG, Blyth K, Vousden KH. p53-mediated redox control promotes liver regeneration and maintains liver function in response to CCl(4). Cell Death Differ. 2022;29:514-526.

Humpton TJ, Hock AK, Kiourtis C, De Donatis M, Fercoq F, Nixon C, Bryson S, Strathdee D, Carlin LM, Bird TG, Blyth K, Vousden KH. A noninvasive iRFP713 p53 reporter reveals dynamic p53 activity in response to irradiation and liver regeneration in vivo. Sci Signal. 2022;15:eabd9099.

Leslie J, Mackey JBG, Jamieson T, Ramon-Gil E, Drake TM, Fercoq F, Clark W, Gilroy K, Hedley A, Nixon C, Luli S, Laszczewska M, Pinyol R, Esteban-Fabró R, Willoughby CE, Haber PK, Andreu-Oller C, Rahbari M, Fan C, Pfister D, Raman S, Wilson N, Müller M, Collins A, Geh D, Fuller A, McDonald D, Hulme G, Filby A, Cortes-Lavaud X, Mohamed N-E, Ford CA, Raffo Iraolagoitia XL, McFarlane AJ, McCain MV, Ridgway RA, Roberts EW, Barry ST, Graham GJ, Heikenwälder M, Reeves HL, Llovet JM, Carlin LM, Bird TG, Sansom OJ, Mann DA. CXCR2 inhibition enables NASH-HCC immunotherapy. Gut. 2022.

Geh D, Leslie J, Rumney R, Reeves HL, Bird TG, Mann DA. Neutrophils as potential therapeutic targets in hepatocellular carcinoma. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022;19:257-273.

2021

Barthet VJA, Brucoli M, Ladds M, Nössing C, Kiourtis C, Baudot AD, O’Prey J, Zunino B, Müller M, May S, Nixon C, Long JS, Bird TG, Ryan KM. Autophagy suppresses the formation of hepatocyte-derived cancer-initiating ductular progenitor cells in the liver. Sci Adv. 2021;7:eabf9141.

Burton A, Tataru D, Driver RJ, Bird TG, Huws D, Wallace D, Cross TJS, Rowe IA, Alexander G, Marshall A. Primary liver cancer in the UK: Incidence, incidence-based mortality, and survival by subtype, sex, and nation. JHEP Rep. 2021;3(2):100232.

Haq MI, Drake TM, Goh TL, Ahmed A, Forrest E, Barclay S, Gillespie R, Priest M, Evans J, Graham J, Ballantyne S, McMillan DC, Hayes PC, Bird TG, Stanley AJ. Effect of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance Programmes on Overall Survival in a Mixed Cirrhotic UK Population: A Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study. J Clin Med. 2021;10:2770.

Kiourtis C, Wilczynska A, Nixon C, Clark W, May S, Bird TG. Specificity and off-target effects of AAV8-TBG viral vectors for the manipulation of hepatocellular gene expression in mice. Biol Open. 2021;10:bio058678.

Mackey JBG, McFarlane AJ, Jamieson T, Jackstadt R, Raffo-Iraolagoitia XL, Secklehner J, Cortes-Lavaud X, Fercoq F, Clarke W, Hedley A, Gilroy K, Lilla S, Vuononvirta J, Graham GJ, De Filippo K, Murphy DJ, Steele CW, Norman JC, Bird TG, Mann DA, Morton JP, Zanivan S, Sansom OJ, Carlin LM. Maturation, developmental site, and pathology dictate murine neutrophil function. bioRxiv. 2021.

Müller M, May S, Bird TG. Ploidy dynamics increase the risk of liver cancer initiation. Nat Commun. 2021;12:1896.

2020

Hughes DM, Berhane S, Degroot ECA, Toyoda H, Tada T, Kumada T, Satomura S, Nishida N, Kudo M, Kimura T, Osaki Y, Kolamunage-Dona R, Salvador RA, Bird TG, Fiñana MG, Johnson P. Serum Levels of Alpha Fetoprotein Increased More Than 10 Years Before Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;19:162-170.

Leslie J, Macia MG, Luli S, Worrell JC, Reilly WJ, Paish HL, Knox A, Barksby BS, Gee LM, Zaki MYW, Collins AL, Burgoyne RA, Cameron R, Bragg C, Xu X, Chung GW, Brown CDA, Blanchard AD, Nanthakumar CB, Karsdal M, Robinson SM, Manas DM, Sen G, French J, White SA, Murphy S, Trost M, Zakrzewski JL, Klein U, Schwabe RF, Mederacke I, Nixon C, Bird T, Teuwen L-A, Schoonjans L, Carmeliet P, Mann J, Fisher AJ, Sheerin NS, Borthwick LA, Mann DA, Oakley F. c-Rel orchestrates energy-dependent epithelial and macrophage reprogramming in fibrosis. Nature Metabolism. 2020;2:1350-1367.

Müller M, Bird TG, Nault J-C. The landscape of gene mutations in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2020;72:990-1002.

Vizioli MG, Liu T, Miller KN, Robertson NA, Gilroy K, Lagnado AB, Perez-Garcia A, Kiourtis C, Dasgupta N, Lei X, Kruger PJ, Nixon C, Clark W, Jurk D, Bird TG, Passos JF, Berger SL, Dou Z, Adams PD. Mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling drives formation of cytoplasmic chromatin and inflammation in senescence. Genes & Development. 2020;34:428-445.

Nehme J, Borghesan M, Mackedenski S, Bird TG, Demaria M. Cellular senescence as a potential mediator of COVID-19 severity in the elderly. Aging Cell. 2020:e13237.

2019

Amoros R, King R, Toyoda H, Kumada T, Johnson PJ, Bird TG. A continuous-time hidden Markov model for cancer surveillance using serum biomarkers with application to hepatocellular carcinoma. Metron. 2019;77:67-86.

Drake TM, Bird TG. Editorial: simplifying screening for primary liver cancer – do the LCR1 and LCR2 tests hold the key? Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2019;49:612-613.

Gay DM, Ridgway RA, Mueller M, Hodder MC, Hedley A, Clark W, Leach JD, Jackstadt R, Nixon C, Huels DJ, Campbell AD, Bird TG, Sansom OJ. Loss of BCL9/9l suppresses Wnt driven tumourigenesis in models that recapitulate human cancer. Nature Communications 2019;10:723.

Liko D, Mitchell L, Campbell KJ, Ridgway RA, Jones C, Dudek K, King A, Bryson S, Stevenson D, Blyth K, Strathdee D, Morton JP, Bird TG, Knight JRP, Willis AE, Sansom OJ. Brf1 loss and not overexpression disrupts tissues homeostasis in the intestine, liver and pancreas. Cell Death Differ. 2019;26:2535-2550.

Muller M, Forbes SJ, Bird TG. Beneficial Noncancerous Mutations in Liver Disease. Trends in Genetics. 2019;35:475-477.

Teo YV, Rattanavirotkul N, Olova N, Salzano A, Quintanilla A, Tarrats N, Kiourtis C, Muller M, Green AR, Adams PD, Acosta JC, Bird TG, Kirschner K, Neretti N, Chandra T. Notch Signaling Mediates Secondary Senescence. Cell Rep 2019;27:997-1007.

2018

Bird TG, Muller M, Boulter L, Vincent DF, Ridgway RA, Lopez-Guadamillas E, Lu WY, Jamieson T, Govaere O, Campbell AD, Ferreira-Gonzalez S, Cole AM, Hay T, Simpson KJ, Clark W, et al. TGFbeta inhibition restores a regenerative response in acute liver injury by suppressing paracrine senescence. Sci Transl Med 2018;10:eaan1230.

Ferreira-Gonzalez S, Lu WY, Raven A, Dwyer B, Man TY, O’Duibhir E, Lewis PJS, Campana L, Kendall TJ, Bird TG, Tarrats N, Acosta JC, Boulter L, Forbes SJ. Paracrine cellular senescence exacerbates biliary injury and impairs regeneration. Nat Commun 2018;9:1020.

2017

Ogrodnik M, Miwa S, Tchkonia T, Tiniakos D, Wilson CL, Lahat A, Day CP, Burt A, Palmer A, Anstee QM, Grellscheid SN, Hoeijmakers JHJ, Barnhoorn S, Mann DA, Bird TG, Vermeij WP, Kirkland JL, Passos JF, von Zglinicki T, Jurk D. Cellular senescence drives age-dependent hepatic steatosis. Nat Commun 2017;8:15691.

Kelly S, Bird TG. The Evolution of the Use of Serum Alpha-fetoprotein in Clinical Liver Cancer Surveillance. J Immunobiol 2017;1. pii: 1000116.

2016

Bird TG, Dimitropoulou P, Turner RM, Jenks SJ, Cusack P, Hey S, Blunsum A, Kelly S, Sturgeon C, Hayes PC, Bird SM. Alpha-Fetoprotein Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Leads to a Standardized Analysis of Dynamic AFP to Improve Screening Based Detection. PLoS One. 2016;11:e0156801.

Vidal V, Sacco S, Rocha AS, da Silva F, Panzolini C, Dumontet T, Thi Mai Phuong Doan, Shan J, Rak-Raszewska A, Bird T, Vainio S, Martinez A, Schedl A. The adrenal capsule is a signaling center controlling cell renewal and zonation through Rspo3. Genes Dev 2016;30:1389-94.