Jo’s dad died of a condition that three days earlier, she had never heard of – pancreatitis. On Monday, Gordon went into hospital. On Thursday, as Jo tells us – “We were told, in black and white, that my dad was not going to survive. Acute pancreatitis had taken over his organs.” No one should have to lose a loved one like this. But, right now, we just don’t understand enough about pancreatitis. There’s no effective treatment. There’s no cure. And there are too many unanswered questions.

Guts UK is the only UK charity funding a research fellowship into acute pancreatitis. Our current fellow, Dr James O’Kelly, is seeking to understand how inflammation in pancreatitis works, so we can build better drugs to prevent organ failure in pancreatitis patients. In 2021, we will begin a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) on pancreatitis, to set research priorities. It’s time to get to grips with pancreatitis, stop the suffering and save lives.