ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Fatty Liver Disease and Multi-System
Complications, organized by Drs. Jay D. Horton, Morris J. Birnbaum and Hannele Yki-Järvinen. The
conference is part of Keystone Symposia’s eSymposia Conference Series and will be an online event from
March 22-24, 2021.
Although the frequency of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has risen worldwide in parallel with the
obesity epidemic, there are still no approved therapies. The more advanced form of the disease, non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis (NASH), is associated with progressive fibrosis and an increased risk of hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC). In the last decade, genetic studies have identified new proteins that participate not only in
the development of hepatic steatosis, but also disease progression to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH),
cirrhosis, and HCC. Meanwhile, research is starting to emerge describing underlying molecular pathways that
mediate alterations in lipid and glucose metabolism, which leads to fat accumulation in liver. Therefore, the
goals of this conference are to: 1) Explore the genetic contributions to NAFLD, and how these insights might
reveal the sequence of events that cause NASH and cirrhosis; 2) Present data underlying the proposal that the
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) be renamed metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease
(MAFLD); 3) Clarify the key molecular events in NAFLD and NASH, focusing on pathways that might provide
therapeutic opportunities; and 4) Highlight emerging therapies for NASH. This conference comes at an
opportunistic time, when several clinical trials are scheduled to conclude, providing critical data to enable
scientists to refine research strategies for the future.