We don’t fully understand why it acute liver failure happens in children, but it’s thought to be a problem with the immune system.

Dr Prerna Diksha is an Honorary Research Fellow in Paediatric Gastroenterology at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She is supported by the Dr Arnold Smith Scholarship through the Liver Foundation to shed light on the immune problems behind paediatric acute liver failure, pointing to better ways of diagnosing and treating the condition.

Her study is building on previous research showing the benefit of analysing patients’ livers for signs of an immune response, then treating them with medication to suppress their immune system.

She’s now looking at the unique signs (biomarkers) of immune dysregulation in the cells and molecules of livers of children who are treated for acute liver failure or acute hepatitis of unknown cause. She will perform RNA sequencing, a novel technology that has quickly emerged as one of the most significant tools in modern science, to understand at a genetic level the factors driving the complex immune networks involved in this condition.

Her insights may help researchers to understand how these liver problems progress in children and help guide early targeted treatment and avoid the need for a liver transplant. This knowledge will be critical for informing the future larger-scale prospective randomised controlled trials, including the finding new treatment targets.

Dr Diksha’s laboratory work has recently started, analysing samples of livers taken by biopsies of patients treated at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. Her findings should be ready in early 2025.