FARGO recruiting now

1. Queen Elizabeth Hospital (University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust); Principal Investigator: Dr Palak Trivedi (RECRUITING NOW)
2. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); Principal Investigator: Dr Simon Rushbrook
3. St Mark’s Hospital (London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust); Principal Investigator: Prof Ailsa Hart
4. King’s College Hospital, London (King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust); Principal Investigator: Dr Deepak Joshi
5. John Radcliffe Hospital (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); Principal Investigator: Dr Emma Culver
6. Royal Free Hospital, London (Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust); Principal Investigator: Prof Douglas Thorburn

In addition, the following locations are acting as referral sites:

1. Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham (Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust) can refer patients to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

If you think you are eligible (suitable) and you want to take part but your hospital is not running the trial, it is still possible to take part.

Talk to your PSC doctor or contact the nearest study site to you. Some people switch hospitals  temporarily for the duration of the clinical trial so that their PSC care and clinical trial study visits are at the same hospital; or they have a 'shared care' agreement whereby they still see their regular hospital doctor but also the PSC specialist who is running the clinical trial. Most PSC doctors will be supportive and coordinate this for you.

Please get in touch with Martine at hello@pscsupport.org.uk if you need help joining a clinical trial at a different hospital.

This study is investigating FMT in PSC.

It has been shown that the makeup of gut microorganisms in PSC are different to that found in people without liver and bowel inflammation, and that this is one of the drivers of PSC development.

Dr Trivedi and his research team will assess a potential treatment for PSC called FMT (‘faecal microbiota transplantation’) that is thought to restore this abnormal gut bacteria balance. FMT involves taking stool from the gut of healthy donors, treating it in a laboratory and transferring it to the bowel of people with PSC.

Early research has shown that FMT is safe, is effective in treating inflammatory bowel disease and improves liver blood test results in some individuals.

The grant from LifeArc and PSC Support is allowing Dr Trivedi’s team to accelerate and scale up their research to understand the impact of FMT on PSC in this clinical trial.

People who take part will go to one hospital visit to check they are eligible to take part in the trial, then eight hospital appointments for the treatments, followed by 4 follow-up visits.

Every clinical trial sets out strict rules defining who can and can't take part. Find out in the KEY INFORMATION below if you are likely to be eligible.