The Power of Purpose
St Catherine’s College Fellow Professor George Yeoh on Transforming Liver Health
St Catherine’s College Fellow Professor George Yeoh
Emeritus Professor George Yeoh, a Fellow of St Catherine’s College, leads groundbreaking research into liver regeneration and disease at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. His pioneering work with liver stem cells is helping pave the way for new therapies to repair damaged tissue and detect liver disease earlier, including a life-changing blood test for children living with cystic fibrosis.
A National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow for two decades and past President of Cancer Council WA, Professor Yeoh has dedicated his career to advancing medical research that improves lives. His work is marked by persistence, collaboration and a deep belief in the power of science to serve the community.
As a Fellow of St Catherine’s, he continues to inspire the next generation of scholars and researchers, encouraging them to pursue knowledge with purpose and curiosity.
We sat down with him to learn more about his research, his motivations and the impact he hopes to make through science.
Your research into liver progenitor cells and Cystic Fibrosis Related Liver Disease (CFLD) is breaking new ground. What inspired you to dedicate your career to understanding liver regeneration and disease?
The liver is a vital organ of the body. It coordinates metabolic activity and converts the basic components of proteins, carbohydrates and fats to meet a person's energy requirements. It could be viewed as the Travelex that facilitates international currency exchange. At last count, it performs more than 500 vital functions essential to life. This is why the liver regenerates; when it fails, an individual can survive only with a liver transplant. During development, metabolic activity changes significantly from the fetus to the newborn to the juvenile and to the adult. The liver must produce new enzymes and precisely control their amounts to cope with the different energy sources in the food consumed. I was interested in gene regulation and understanding how the liver switched genes on to synthesise new enzymes, then controlled how much to make during development, which became my focus
Developing a simple blood test for early detection of liver disease would be highly impactful. How do you see this innovation changing the lives of people living with Cystic Fibrosis and other liver diseases?
Between 10 and 20% of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients develop a liver disease comorbidity (CFLD). The clinical need for CFLD patients is a reliable, minimally invasive test, especially one able to detect the condition early in its progression. Current diagnostic tests are unreliable, and a biopsy remains the gold standard. However, doctors cannot repeat biopsies, and a biopsy sample only represents a tiny fraction of the organ. Severely affected CFLD patients require a liver transplant. Interventions, including diet and drugs, are effective, especially when introduced early. The value of a blood test lies in its ability to continuously monitor a CF patient for signs of LD, enabling early detection.
You have worked extensively to understand liver stem cells and their potential for cell and gene therapy. What excites you most about where this field is heading in the next decade?
The potential of using liver stem cells to repair a sick liver is enormous. This is because they can grow so well and develop into both liver cell types, the hepatocyte and cholangiocyte, which perform the liver's primary functions. Regarding gene therapy, the liver is well-suited for this approach, as it can be targeted with viral vectors and possesses abundant receptors on liver cells. Urea synthesis defects and blood clotting deficiencies are treated by gene therapy approaches that have been approved. It is also important to emphasise that once a healthy liver cell is produced, it can undergo rapid growth, thereby amplifying the treatment's efficacy. Advances in the next decade will enable the generation of autologous liver cells from reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells, thereby circumventing immune rejection. Currently, we can generate liver organoids, but they are small and have limited functional capacity. A mini organ will require mimicking liver circulation to increase its mass and structure, thereby improving its function and facilitating its incorporation into its host.
Collaboration seems central to your work, with the FHRI Fund, Cystic Fibrosis WA and Conquer Cystic Fibrosis, among others. What role does collaboration play in driving scientific breakthroughs?
Medical research today to be successful must involve multiple collaborations across many disciplines and institutes in different countries. It requires a high level of specialised expertise, sophisticated and expensive equipment, and technology that a few years ago would have been considered science fiction. It is not only funding from a variety of sources and the quantity of support that matters. Telethon has also provided a priming grant to get us going. It is essential to involve cell, molecular and developmental biologists, chemists, geneticists, clinicians, bioinformaticians and even engineers in my research. I am privileged to be working at the Harry Perkins Institute, a “melting pot” where these experts come together. To achieve significant outcomes that impact our community's health, collaboration is essential.
You have been a Fellow of St Catherine’s College for some time. What first drew you to connect with the College, and what does that relationship mean to you today?
I was a resident of the old Kingswood College on College Row. The collegiality I enjoyed and the proximity to UWA's resources significantly assisted my academic development. For that, I am grateful. When St Catherine’s invited me to join as a Fellow, I saw this as an opportunity to give back. Furthermore, it is an avenue to interact with the next generation of researchers and to preach the power of the liver!
At our recent Scholars' Dinner on AI, you joined conversations that bridged science, technology and ethics. How do you think interdisciplinary discussions like these benefit researchers and students alike?
I enjoyed the most recent Scholars' Dinner at your Curtin campus. As researchers, we constantly focus on the big problems we face and pay attention to detail to ensure we achieve tangible outcomes. Sometimes, we must be blinkered to attend to the many challenges we face. The conversations at events such as the Scholars' Dinners allow me to look outside my box, for attendees come from all walks of life. Conversations on the night directed me to consider environmental, financial and social issues and to appreciate what concerns the next generation. I hope the students benefit from discussions with us, so we must be honest and be willing to follow up with answers to their enquiries.
Many of our students aspire to careers in medical research. What advice would you give to young scholars hoping to make a real-world impact through science?
Indeed, as I have been keenly aware of the aspirations of those who have been seated close by at Scholars' Dinners, I recall stating that it is a calling that mandates enormous commitment, so passion is a prerequisite. Otherwise, you would not devote the time a medical research career demands. Be organised and use your time efficiently. Medical research concerns the whole body, its organs, tissues, cells, chemicals and molecules, and how they work together. It is very complicated, so a medical researcher needs to be knowledgeable, methodical, logical, systematic and pay attention to detail.
St Catherine’s places a strong emphasis on service and impact beyond academia. How does your research reflect those same values?
Our current work is focused on developing a blood test that can be used as part of routine healthcare for children with cystic fibrosis and their families. This research has moved beyond the purely academic; it is now about refining a method that can make a tangible difference in people's lives. We hope it will be compelling enough to attract commercial interest and move into practical use. In that sense, the work is deeply purpose-driven and aligns closely with St Catherine's ethos of service, applying knowledge and discovery for the benefit of the wider community.
Looking back on your career, what has been the most rewarding moment or discovery for you as a researcher or lecturer?
Early in my career as a researcher, many of my peers challenged, even scorned, my view that the liver harbours stem cells. We all know that the liver regrows. It is often cited as the best model of tissue regeneration. This criticism increased when a colleague published an editorial in a highly regarded journal titled "Liver stem cells, where art thou?" Recently developed technologies, previously considered science fiction, that enable the determination of the transcriptome and proteome of single cells have confirmed the presence of liver stem/progenitor cells in diseased liver.
As a lecturer, I was disappointed when student numbers attending my undergraduate Cell Biology lectures dropped from about 30 to 10 following the enforced provision of PowerPoint handouts for all lectures. The number plateaued at about 10 for several weeks. My rewarding moment followed their answer to my question, "Why are you still attending my lectures?" Answer: "We learnt more by hearing you speak and understood better when you related it to your research".
How do you hope your ongoing work will inspire the next generation of researchers and thinkers?
Research is never-ending. A discovery usually leads to more questions, often about mechanisms. I have indicated how complicated medical research is; there is so much to be discovered. I keep telling students that there may be a cosmos out there to be investigated, but there is one within our bodies that is equally unknown.
By example, I hope to inspire the next generation of researchers. I have worked hard and made many sacrifices to undertake research in renowned institutes in the USA, France, Germany and the UK. I have endured many setbacks with grant applications and journal manuscript submissions, yet I continue to come into my lab and tend to my favourite cell - the liver stem cell! It underpins this CF project and another that concerns the search for a liver cancer therapy amongst the sponges that populate the West Australian Coast. That is another story.
Professor Yeoh’s work continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in liver health research. His leadership and collaborative approach exemplify the values of St Catherine’s College, using knowledge and innovation to create tangible benefits for the community.
Find out more about the College’s Fellows at stcats.com.au/about-us/community/our-fellows.