Areas of Expertise

Dr Direkze performs a range of procedures, including:

• Gastroscopy
• Colonoscopy
• Endoscopy
• Capsule endoscopy
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy

Some of the common conditions she investigates and manages are:

• Gastrointestinal cancer
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Bowel disease
• Bowel cancer
• Barrett's oesophagus
• Motility disorders
• Change in bowel habit
• Anaemia
• Reflux symptoms
• Gastrointestinal bleeding

About Dr Natalie Direkze

Dr Natalie Direkze is a consultant gastroenterologist and Partner at OneWelbeck, with an interest in inflammatory bowel disease and upper gastrointestinal disorders. She is the Head of Specialty for Endoscopy at Imperial College NHS Trust.

She is a National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme accredited colonoscopist with an interest in inflammatory bowel disease and Barrett’s oesophagus. Since becoming a consultant, she has been involved in a number of clinical projects including several national studies and smaller projects such as validating a food-related quality of life questionnaire in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and more recently an evaluation of local dietetic services at Imperial College for IBD patients.

“The process of seeking help for gastrointestinal symptoms can be embarrassing and difficult to talk about – the design of OneWelbeck Digestive Health has been developed by doctors that see patients going through this on a daily basis. We’ve incorporated that experience to make the process easier for each person coming to the centre.

I have personally been involved in decisions around aspects of the environment that first greet you as you enter the department, the environment in your room as you prepare for the procedure but also more technically in the reporting and IT systems behind the scenes – to support clear dissemination of information about your case to you, your GP and to other doctors looking after you.”

Dr Natalie Direkze, MBBS MA PhD FRCP completed a degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge before going on to study medicine at St Mary’s. After junior training posts in London, she was appointed to the North West London gastroenterology training programme in 1999. In 2006, she completed a PhD in adult stem cell biology and pancreatic cancer at Cancer Research UK.

Dr Direkze completed her training at Bart’s and the London NHS Trust, becoming a clinical lecturer there from 2007 to 2009. She was appointed to Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as a consultant gastroenterologist and general physician, in 2009; returning to St Mary’s in 2015.

Since becoming a consultant she has been involved in teaching medical students, junior doctors and specialist trainees, as well as BSc and MSc students at Imperial College. She has lectured on topics ranging from treatments in inflammatory bowel disease and surveillance in oesophageal disease. She has also been invited to teach on Joint Advisory Group courses teaching endoscopy to specialist registrars.

Dr Natalie Direkze partnered with Welbeck Health Partners in 2018 to collaboratively develop the OneWelbeck Digestive Health Centre.

Research Highlights

Dr Direkze completed a PhD in adult stem cell biology and pancreatic cancer in 2006. A number of well cited papers resulted from this, describing the role of adult bone marrow derived stem cells and their contribution to tumour formation.

Since becoming a consultant, she has been more involved in a number of clinical projects, including a national study into aspirin and Barrett’s Oesophagus (AspECT); studies looking at the effectiveness of different agents for managing acute severe colitis (CONSTRUCT); and studies looking at genetic markers for drug reactions in inflammatory bowel disease (Pred4 and PANTS). She has also contributed to the National Registry for patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for dysplastic Barrett’s oesophagus.

Other projects have included a role in validating a food-related quality of life questionnaire in inflammatory bowel disease and more recently an evaluation of local dietetic services at Imperial for IBD patients.

Dr Direkze has contributed to approximately 40 articles, reviews and book chapters. Some highlights include first author papers in the journal ‘Cancer Research’ on stem cells and cancer. Other papers of interest include those on inflammatory bowel disease.

She has written a number of book chapters and reviews including titles such as ‘A New Stem Cell Biology for Pathologists’, ‘Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colon Cancer’ and a chapter in a guide for junior doctors.