1st EASL NAFLD Summit

Organisers Ali Canbay, Claus Hellerbrand, Wing-Kin Syn and Michael Trauner invite attendees globally to the 1^st EASL Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Summit: Target-oriented approach to Diagnosis and Pharmacotherapy of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).

The meeting, held in Rome, Italy, from the 9^th to the 11^th of November, is ideal for basic and translational scientists, clinical researchers, industry/biotechnology professionals, hepatologists, health professionals, regulatory and funding agencies, young researchers and trainees.

Main themes of the meeting are:

• NAFLD pathogenesis
• Patient management
• Prognostic and therapeutic targets
• Non-invasive assessment of fibrosis
• Apoptosis
• Biomarkers
• Insulin resistance and signalling
• Hormonal and bile acids signalling
• Oxidative and mitochondrial stress
• Inflammation and immunity in NASH
• Carcinogenesis

‘NAFLD is the leading cause of chronic liver disease not only in Western countries but also among developing countries of the Far East, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. In the US and Europe, nearly 40% of the population have NAFLD and approximately 20% of these individuals are likely to develop progressive liver disease (i.e. NASH) that lead to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Another emerging challenge is hepatocellular cancer which increasingly arises in precirrhotic stages. Although a significant number of new drugs are already in the development pipeline, none are as yet, approved by regulatory agencies. As such, the identification and development of new therapies is urgently needed.

‘This summit will cover both the basic and translational/clinical aspects of NAFLD, with a specific focus on novel drug target and prognostic signature development.’

The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the home of hepatology, was founded in 1966 and brings together 11,000 liver experts at the yearly International Liver Congress^TM.