With the rise of obesity we have seen an increase in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) which affects about 30% of the population in developed countries. MASLD is caused by excess deposition of fat in the liver and can progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), cirrhosis and liver cancer. About 5% of the general population has MASH and presently there are no effective medical treatments for the condition making it a large unmet medical need. Identifying the drivers of MASH and developing therapies to ameliorate it will be critical to curbing the liver disease epidemic.

This meeting will cover the latest on:

1. the genetic etiology of the condition
2. metabolic and inflammatory drivers of the disease
3. preclinical modelling of the disease
4. non invasive markers for diagnosis
5. existing and emerging therapeutics

This conference will held jointly with the Keystone Symposium on Obesity and Adipose Tissue to encourage cross-disciplinary insights and collaborations towards understanding underlying mechanisms of how obesity leads to liver disease. This is a synergistic pairing, given that lipodystrophy has long been known to promote severe MASLD and ways to reduce overall obesity are also being tried for MASLD, such as with bariatric surgery and now GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP agonists. Joint sessions on human genetics and therapeutics across MASH and obesity will facilitate interaction between endocrinologists, hepatologists, adipose and liver biologists for synergy.

In the video below, meeting organizer, Elizabeth Speliotes from the University of Michigan, talks about what to expect and why you should attend this meeting:

And check out the speaker highlights below: