SYDNEY - Australian researchers will soon be testing the genes of hundreds of participants in Sydney to work out why some heavy drinkers develop liver cirrhosis and some don't, the Centenary Institute said on Monday.

A 2.5 million AU dollars ($2.63 million) grant from the US National Institute of Health (NIH) will help to fund the project, the Sydney-based medical institute said.

Centenary's liver lab researcher Devanshi Seth, who also works at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's Drug Health Services, will be collaborating with researchers globally to carry out a large scale genetic study that will test thousands of people in six countries.

Seth said work was needed to explain why some moderate to heavy drinkers were afflicted with liver cirrhosis.

"Alcoholic liver disease is a hidden epidemic, a silent disease that occurs after a long period of alcohol abuse," she said.

"We hope that by analyzing the genetics in a large international group comprising thousands of drinkers we can detect the genetic risks associated with ALC (alcoholic liver cirrhosis)."