MBBS and intercalating MSc Gastroenterology student wins prestigious national award

7 July 2023

Mr Advait Upadhyaya, who is currently the Vice President of the Gastroenterology Society, won the Medical Student Prize for his research project which aimed to assess and develop a unified gastroenterology service for patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobile Spectrum Disorders.

The project, titled ‘The Development of Unified Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobile Spectrum Service for Patients with Concomitant Functional Dyspepsia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)’, was carried out at the Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology at the Blizard Institute, while Mr Upadhyaya was intercalating for his MSc in Gastroenterology.

Mr Upadhyaya was presented with his award and £1,500 prize at the annual meeting of the British Gastroenterology Society (BSG) on Tuesday 20 June. The ceremony took place during a celebratory dinner at the Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool, with the awards presented by the President of the BSG, Professor Andy Veitch, and attended by other illustrious names in gastroenterology medicine along with the CEO of Guts Charity UK.

The Dr Falk Pharma/Guts UK Charity Awards are dedicated to encouraging research and promoting patient care in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. Since 2007 they have rewarded over 140 dedicated young healthcare professionals, including medical students, junior doctors, nurses and dietitians. This year for the first time, pharmacists have also been recognised.

Mr Upadhyaya explains: "98 per cent of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder patients have a Disorder of Gut-Brain Interaction. Currently there is no specific service for these patients in the UK, despite the fact these patients have complex and often unsatisfactory management plans, worse quality of life scores than IBD and large healthcare costs.

"Having met and spoken with some of these patients, I am driven to help them. Our study aimed to understand and detail the healthcare utilisation and costs associated with these patients to enable the creation of a novel and unified service which would be both cost-effective and tailored for them, to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

"I have my heart set on a career in gastroenterology, especially neurogastroenterology, and winning this award would no doubt help to further my future career as it demonstrates my dedication to this speciality and my wish to help these patients."

Mr Upadhyaya’s project supervisor Dr Asma Fikree, Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology at the Blizard Institute and Gastroenterology Consultant at the Royal London Hospital, comments:

"Advait Upadhyaya has been a phenomenally hard-working, enthusiastic and extremely bright medical student and it has been an absolute joy to work with him for the last few years. He truly is a fantastic all-rounder and the type of student that you come across once in a blue moon. I am delighted that he has won this award of which he is entirely worthy."