Personal Statement
Marcus KH Auth is a Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of the University of Liverpool. He performed his medical training (MD), academic career (PD) and research in Universities of Frankfurt, Essen and Birmingham and has developed and led the paediatric gastroenterology service in Liverpool. Constantly striving to improve the outcome of children with chronic disease, he published his scientific and clinical expertise in more than 87 peer-reviewed papers, guidelines and book chapters which comprise eosinophilic disorders, polyposis syndromes, inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, interventional endoscopy and liver disease, for which he won international awards. Associate Professor Auth has been BSPGHAN Gastroenterology Chair and EoE working group Chair, and member of BSPGHAN and ESPGHAN eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases, IBD and polyposis working groups and has had major contributions to national, European and World guidelines on EoE and EGID. Marcus has an interest in the role of the gut microbiome, and disease prevention. Currently he leads on a multi-centre trial supported by BSPGHAN/Guts UK on the assessment of faecal volatile compound markers in children with EoE (BioEvocs). He has contributed to prospective studies and guidance on safe medication for children with EoE and IBD.
Marcus promotes healthy lifestyles, protection of the environment, global climate, humanity and peace.

Research Overview
Passionate to inspire trainees, professionals and patients into research and education, my accomplishments in experimental and clinical research have led to my reputation as a national and international leading expert in paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.

I have published 87 peer-reviewed papers as first, senior and co-author including Lancet, Nature Communications, BMJ, BMJ Paediatrics Open, Gastroenterology, Gut, Journal of Crohns Colitis, J Pediatr ic Gastroenterology & Nutrition, United European Gastroenterology, and Archives of Disease in Childhood in the leading journals of my specialty.

As the national chair for eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE), a condition rapidly emerging in developed countries, I have developed and published the first joined paediatric and adult guidelines on the management of EoE. As senior steering group member I have contributed to the European Guidelines for EoE in 2024. As section lead for eosinophilic colitis, I am a leading co-author or the first World guidelines on eosinophilic gastro-intestinal disorders (EGID), co-published by the North American and European Societies for Gastroenterology. Several further important publications and original papers have arisen from these strong collaborations established over my networking and working group roles over the last two decades, including national surveys on the medical management of EoE in the UK published in the BMJ in 2024. As national gastroenterology chair and working group member in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) working group I have led on a national survey on the use, access to, and funding of novel biologics for children with IBD in the UK which is a benchmark national funding. As co-initiator, national and European working group member, I have contributed to the first World guidelines on three distinct hereditary polyposis syndromes, which streamline the diagnostic and therapeutic pathway and allow for cancer prevention.

I received the first grant awarded from GutsUK/BSPGHAN for investigations on EoE which is adopted by the NiHR portfolio. As CI of the multi-centre study BiOEvocs, I am leading investigations on the metabolome and targeted microbiome (using volantile organic compounds VOCs) in patients with EoE and matched controls in collaboration with Prof Chris Probert from the UoL. Results are expected to be presented in 2026.
As CI for the UK I have demonstrated the efficacy and safety oral viscous budesonide in children in the multi-centre European BUU-5 study.
I am PI for a multi-centre study in children with functional abdominal pain disorder to evaluate the efficacy of Enterosgel, an oral adsorbent that binds bacterial toxins, viruses, immune chemicals and bile acids in the gut (ENTOPIC) which will take place Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Bristol from 2025.

As research lead I have facilitated 36 multi-centre studies studies on our department portfolio, including Paediatric IBD (PIBD) BioResource (led by Prof Holm Uhlig in Oxford) in which paediatric patients with IBD are investigated for genetics, IBD causes and treatments prospectively based on their genotype and phenotype. As PI and supervisor of sub-PIs in two multi-centre studies Ferracru and Fortis on iron deficiency anaemia, treatment with a novel paediatric formulation resulted in a favourable demonstration of safety, tolerability and efficacy with prospects for license and wider use in paediatrics. These have resulted in novel biomarkers for IBD and EoE, introduction of the first medicine licensed for children with EoE for the UK, improved parenteral nutrition formulations and tolerability of oral iron supplementation.

As PI for a landmark study VOCs in IBD in a multi-centre study, we could demonstrate and publish, for the first time in children, that volatile organic compounds can be used as faecal biomarkers to distinguish active inflammatory bowel disease from remission, and separate profiles of patients with Crohn’s disease from those with ulcerative colitis. Further manuscripts about the gut microbiome and mycobiome are in preparation.

I am the first national working group for paediatric eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE), and as member of working groups for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), I have led and published national surveys and audits on IBD and EoE. Together with my national and international expert colleagues I published innovations in the diagnosis of early onset IBD, introduced new biologic treatments with specific paediatric license for IBD and EoE, and as regional polyposis lead, therapeutic management of the main polyposis syndromes, and early onset genetic conditions predisposing to more severe disease outcomes.

With my academic University Professor colleague Chris Probert I am collaborating on the importance of the gut metabolome and microbiome in IBD, EoE and functional gastro-intestinal disorders. I am collaborating with Prof Paul Collins in the rare diseases collaborative network on hereditary gastrointestinal polyposis syndromes to define genetic risk factors for better patient outcomes for young people and transition to adult services.

With the adult gastroenterology colleagues I have published the first national guidelines for EoE, and nationally adopted European guidelines on polyposis syndromes and EGID. These are milestones for evidence based diagnostic pathways, treatment concepts, licensing of medicines for children, and introduction and funding of a panel of biologics for children in EoE and IBD. The world guidelines for polyposis syndromes which I co-initiated with the founder and senior author Dr Warren Hyer are the most cited papers in our society’s home journal J Ped Gastroent Nutr. and present a model for cancer prevention in children and young people.