4 February 2026

King’s Health Partners and The Lancet have announced an international commission focused on improving the diagnosis, management, and treatment of sepsis – a life-threatening condition affecting millions each year.

The commission is chaired by Prof Manu Shankar-Hari, Professor of Critical Care Medicine at King’s College London and Director of the KHP Centre for Critical Illness Research.

The Lancet has invited several internationally renowned experts as commissioners. The work of the commission will begin with a kick off meeting bringing together global leaders to undertake a comprehensive wholesale rethinking of sepsis prevention, screening, prediction, diagnosis, pathobiology, treatment development, testing, and follow-up management for those who recover from sepsis.  

Prof Manu Shankar-Hari said:

Sepsis remains one of the most pressing challenges in global health. Its complexity demands inter-disciplinary expertise for innovative solutions. This commission provides a unique opportunity to bring together world-leading experts in sepsis, infection, immunology, global health, diagnostics, clinical trials, drug discovery, and data sciences. I am pleased to lead this vital initiative and look forward to collaborating with colleagues from across the globe to enable meaningful, lasting change for patients.

Prof Graham Lord, Executive Director, King’s Health Partners, said:

Improving population health is one of King’s Health Partners’ strategic ambitions, and by leveraging our expertise in translational research alongside The Lancet’s global reach, the commission has the potential to shape local, national, and international policy and practice, driving improved outcomes for people worldwide affected by sepsis.

This initiative builds on the successful partnership between the medical journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and King’s Health Partners Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity. Endorsed by 76 medical organisations around the world, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission set out a new diagnostic model of obesity based on objective measures of illness at the individual level and introduces two novel categories of obesity – clinical obesity and pre-clinical obesity.

It was chaired by Prof Francesco Rubino, Chair of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, and Honorary Consultant at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.