Dame Sheila Sherlock was one of the world's leading authorities on liver disease.

Her reference work Diseases of the Liver and Biliary System, first published in 1955, is still regarded as a standard text. It is now in its 11th edition and is used throughout the world.

''She established clinical hepatology as a distinct discipline,'' said Dr Roger Williams, a professor of hepatology at University College London who studied under Sherlock at her world-famous liver unit.

''This she did from the Second World War onwards when very little was known about the liver,'' he added.

Sherlock was born in 1918 and went to school in southern England. She decided to study medicine and in 1936 went to Edinburgh University, graduating five years later top of her class.

Working as a clinical assistant and then house physician, she continued with her studies, focus-

ing on hepatitis, the biochemistry of the liver, and for a time investigated the effects on the liver of malnutrition suffered in German concentration camps.

In 1947 she was awarded a Rockefeller fellowship and attended Yale University, returning to Britain a year later to become a lecturer and consultant physician at the Postgraduate Medical School in London, where she helped set up and run a liver unit.

In 1959 she became a professor of medicine at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London, the first woman to gain that post, and continued and expanded her liver unit there.

Research fellows travelled there from around the globe as

her pioneering work gained

world recognition.

Sherlock and her team conducted research in many areas

of liver disease, including cirrhosis and autoimmune disorders.

A major contribution was the training of a number of people who subsequently became directors or leaders of hepatology units in countries across the world.

''The very beginning of it we owe to her and we owe our initial training to her,'' said Dr Williams.

''She was great fun to socialise with, was very hospitable to research fellows and young directors in training, and to people visiting her unit from overseas,'' he added.

Sherlock published hundreds of academic papers on the liver and received dozens of awards, prizes, and medals from many universities and academic organisations around the world. She was made a dame in 1978.

Dr James Dooley, who co-authored the last three editions of her book, said her biggest accolade came last year when she became a fellow of the Royal Society.

''That is the top accolade for any medical scientist,'' said Dooley, a consultant hepatologist at the Royal Free Hospital. ''But her immediate reaction was that this was not necessarily about her,

but was an honour recognising everybody who has worked with her in her unit.''

Dooley said when Sherlock retired as chairman of medicine

at the Royal Free Hospital in

1983, she continued to consult internationally and attended

meetings worldwide.

''She was an ambassador for British medicine throughout the world and went on travelling and lecturing,'' he added.

Sherlock is survived by her

husband of 50 years, Dr D Geraint James, their two daughters, and

two grandchildren.