Dear Colleagues,
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most prevalent hepatic disease worldwide. A growing interest, allied with considerable research efforts, is being dedicated to this condition which is the hepatic manifestation of insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. Its most severe form, non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), can result in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in a significant proportion of patients, with reduced survival and increased liver-related mortality. Moreover, the clinical impact of NAFLD/NASH is far reaching, as it accelerates the progression of liver disease in other conditions, such as chronic hepatitis C, and increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), with the endorsement of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), have decided to organize a Special Conference and a satellite symposium dedicated to this timely topic.
We planned this meeting as a broad platform of scientific exchange between academic researchers, clinical practitioners and pharmacological industry partners from the hepatology, endocrinology, diabetes, obesity/nutrition, cardiology, and public health fields. During the two and a half days of the “NAFLD/NASH and related metabolic disease” special conference, including the half-day of “HCV and steatosis” satellite meeting, international experts will give a series of lectures and will also participate in interactive debates with the attendees. Space will be reserved for poster presentations of original work in the field of NAFLD/NASH. The overall aim is to review the state of the art knowledge for this condition and to propose clinical practice guidelines for tomorrow’s challenges: how to identify and diagnose populations at risk, how to predict disease progression and how to devise the optimal therapeutic strategies, to name just a few.
We are looking forward to your participation at this exciting event in Bologna in September!
Sincerely,
Stefano Bellentani Helena Cortez-Pinto Giulio Marchesini Chris Day Vlad Ratziu
Scientific Organizing Committee