Biography
Dr. Prem Thurairajah is a Senior Consultant in Gastroenterology and Hepatology with over two decades of international experience in clinical practice, research, and advanced endoscopy. He completed his medical degree at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India, graduating in 1997.
Following medical school, Dr. Thurairajah trained and worked for over 15 years in the United Kingdom and the United States. His postgraduate training in Internal Medicine was undertaken across various prominent teaching hospitals in England and Wales, culminating in his admission to the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP, UK) in 2002. He subsequently entered specialist training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the West Midlands Deanery, Birmingham, where he developed a strong foundation in the management of complex liver disease and liver transplantation.
Some of Dr. Thurairajah's key achievements include:
- Performed complex hepatobiliary endoscopy at the National University Hospital and the University of Kentucky, USA, where he served as a transplant hepatologist and interventional endoscopist
- Spearheaded the chronic hepatitis C treatment programme at Changi General Hospital
- Served as a transplant hepatologist in the UK, USA and Singapore, and managed complex liver disease
- Completed a basic science PhD on viral hepatitis in the UK
Dr. Thurairajah treats a wide range of gastrointestinal and liver conditions, including:
- Investigation of raised liver enzymes and jaundice
- Viral, Autoimmune and Alcoholic Hepatitis
- Fatty liver
- Liver cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Screening
- Liver failure and transplantation
- Gastric and colon cancer screening
- Gastric and colonic polyps removal
- Submucosal tumours of the GI tract
- Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD)
- Helicobacter pylori
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Symptoms of Diarrhoea & Constipation
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and malabsorption syndromes
- Investigations of weight loss, anemia, rectal bleeding, bloatedness and chronic abdominal pain
- Biliary stones , strictures and bile duct cancers
- Pancreatic cysts , pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis
At UCL, Dr. Thurairajah received training in advanced therapeutic endoscopy, including ERCP, EUS, endoscopic stenting, percutaneous gastrostomy, and complex colonic polypectomy. He has performed a number of procedures, including:
- Diagnostic & therapeutic upper GI endoscopy
- Diagnostic & therapeutic colonoscopy & flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in gastrointestinal diseases
- Diagnostic & therapeutic ERCP
- Video Capsule endoscopy
- Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)e
Driven by a keen interest in hepatology, he pursued a PhD in Hepatitis C, which he completed in 2010. His research has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals, making significant contributions to the academic field of liver disease. Some of his selected research publishing include:
- Chaillon, A., Thurairajah, P. H., Hsiang, J. C., & Martin, N. K. (2020). What is required for achieving hepatitis C virus elimination in Singapore? A modeling study. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 36(4), 1110–111
- Thurairajah, P. H., Carbone, M., Bridgestock, H., Thomas, P., Hebbar, S., Gunson, B. K., Shah, T., & Neuberger, J. (2013). Late Acute Liver allograft Rejection; a study of its natural history and graft survival in the current era. Transplantation, 95(7), 955–959.
- Thurairajah, P. H., Hegazy, D., Chokshi, S., Shaw, S., Demaine, A., Kaminski, E. R., Naoumov, N. V., & Cramp, M. E. (2008). Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)–Specific T Cell Responses in Injection Drug Users with Apparent Resistance to HCV Infection. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 198(12), 1749–1755.
- Thurairajah, P. H., Matthew J Akiyama, Nadine Kronfli, Joaquin Cabezas, Yumi Sheehan, Richard Lines, Andrew R Lloyd (2021). Hepatitis C elimination among people incarcerated in prisons: challenges and recommendations for action within a health system framework. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 6(5), 391-400
- Wong YJ, Thurairajah PH, Kumar R, et al. Efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir in a real-world chronic hepatitis C genotype 3 cohort. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021;36 (5):1300-1308.
- Rajvinder Singh, Yasser Maqbool Bhat, Prem Harichander Thurairajah, Mohit Pramod Shetti, Mahesh Jayanna, Garry Nind, William Tam, Russell Walmsey, Micheal Bourke, Alan Moss, Robert Chen, Peter Bampton, Ian Roberts-Thomson, Mark Schoeman, Graeme Tucker. (2013). Is narrow band imaging superior to high-definition white light endoscopy in the assessment of diminutive colorectal polyps? Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2013; Mar, 28 (3): 472 -478
- Singh, R., Nordeen, N., Shanmuganathan, G., Thurairajah, P. H., & Bhat, Y. M. (2011). Role of narrow band imaging Barrett`s Oesophagus. Digestive Endoscopy, 23(s1), 83–85.
Dr. Thurairajah's specialty interests include Complex Liver Disease, Liver Transplant, Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography and Endoscopic Ultrasound.
