The Team

Collaborators & Societies

We work with outstanding academic groups, clinical teams, consortia, and industry partners around the world.

Academic

Luca Urbani

King's College London, Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies

Role of mitochondria in Hepatic Stellate Cells (HSC) and organotypic liver models.

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Pedro Baptista

Center for Biomedical Research Network Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBERehd), Zaragoza

Translational validation of gut microbiota-derived peptides in liver regeneration and fibrosis using Precision-Cut Liver Slices.

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Maddy Parsons

King's College London, Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics

Advanced bioimaging and microscopy approaches applied to patient derived tissue models.

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Michele Vacca

University of Bari Aldo Moro, Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies

Nutritional interventions and therapeutic potential of polyphenols in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), ex vivo models of MASLD.

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Shilpa Chokshi

University of Plymouth

Organotypic models of liver disease and liver cancer, role of mitochondria morphology in Alcohol-related Liver Disease (ALD).

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Thomas Marjot

Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, King's College London

Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD) and experimental medicine.

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Geltrude Mingrone

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, King's College London

Perilipins and mitochondria in Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD).

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Peter Starkel

Université Catholique de Louvain and Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Brussels

Characterisation of mitochondrial alterations in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol related liver disease (ALD).

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Filip Braet

University of Sydney

Characterisation of megamitochondria by electron microscopy in human tissue derived models.

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Marta Giacomello

University of Padova

Imaging analysis to study mitochondrial morphometrics.

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TITAN Consortium

Prof Jesús M. Bañales, Dr Pedro Rodrigues, Prof Fernando Cossío, Dr Iván Rivilla, Prof Jean Charles Nault, Dr Sandra Rebouissou, Prof Ana Lleo, Dr Michela Polidoro

Development of novel therapeutic strategies for liver cancer. Testing efficacy of cisplatin derivatives in cholangiocarcinoma preclinical models.

Clinical

Liver Histopatology Laboratory

King's College Hospital

Characterisation of mitochondrial alterations in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol related liver disease (ALD).

Societies and Committees

ESBRA - European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcohol

The Palma Lab is an active member of the ESBRA community, contributing to initiatives that advance alcohol related research, education, and scientific collaboration across Europe.

Dr Elena Palma is Chair of the ESBRA Early Career Investigators and Communication Committee, supporting visibility, networking, mentorship, and career development for early career researchers in alcohol research.

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EASL - European Association for the Study of the Liver

The Palma Lab actively participates in initiatives organised by EASL, contributing to education, translational hepatology, and basic liver research.

Dr Elena Palma served as Course Director of the EASL Basic Science School “Precision Cut Liver Slices and Liver Organoids: versatile ex vivo models of liver disease” in 2022 and 2024. She was also part of the faculty at the EASL Congress in 2025 and 2026 and is among the organisers of the EASL Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD) Summit 2027.

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