Professor Patrick Kennedy

Professor Patrick Kennedy is a leading liver specialist, whose work in viral liver disease is known internationally. He trained at the University College in Dublin, completed post-graduate training in London and was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2009.

He has produced novel work redefining disease phase in Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) and the main focus of his research work is around broadening treatment candidacy and the development of individualized treatment strategies for viral liver disease. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 46) with more than 10,600 citations, contributed multiple book chapters, and served as editor of the textbook Hepatogastroenterology.

Professor Kennedy is a Consultant Physician and Hepatologist with a special interest in the management of liver disease in young people. He works closely with premiership football clubs and manages liver disease in professional sportspeople and elite athletes from the UK and abroad. He is the BVHG Chair and former lead for the British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL) special interest group in HBV. He was a member of the WHO guideline development group and a member of the EASL clinical practice guideline committee for HBV (2025). He previously served on the guideline committee for NICE and provides expert opinion for the United Kingdom Advisory Panel on blood-borne viruses. Recently, he served as an expert advisor for the infected blood inquiry, he also sits on the national strategic group for viral hepatitis (NSGVH) and is on the Scientific and Medical advisory Board for the Hepatitis B Foundation.

Professor Kennedy also works closely with industry and provides expert opinion on early drug development programs. In keeping with his academic research interest and publication record in viral liver disease, he is the Chief/Principal Investigator for a number of investigator-led and commercial phase 1, 2 and 3, clinical trials of novel therapies in viral liver disease. At present, he leads clinical trials on the development of novel therapies in HBV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV).

In addition, he is passionate about patient education and ensuring patients play a central role in their own medical management. Professor Kennedy is the inventor of HepB&Me, a management app, for both patients and healthcare providers; a current area of his research is expanding the utility of disease management tools to empower patients and improve care