ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled NASH and Fibrosis: From Molecular
Phenotypes to Precision Therapeutics, organized by Drs. Stefano Romeo, Michael Charlton, Silvia Sookoian
and Gregory Tesz. The conference will be held in Banff, Canada from March 3-6, 2024.
Fatty liver disease (FLD) includes a spectrum of conditions in which excess liver fat coexists with inflammation,
fibrosis and increased risk of cancer. The incidence and prevalence of FLD is increasing rapidly and affects
about one out of four people across the globe, with concurrent increases in liver related morbidity and mortality.
Moreover, despite over a decade of research, clinical trials have failed to bring effective treatments for FLD with
fibrosis. The complex and variable interactions between environmental and genetic susceptibility and protective
factors have presented challenges to progress. Assessing severity of disease and response to therapy have
been similarly challenging. Therefore, this Keystone Symposia conference program will explore the metabolic,
genetic and molecular diversity of FLD to identify novel strategies to tackle this disease. The program will
examine the latest advances in noninvasive measurements to both assess treatment efficacy as well as identify
subpopulations at risk for liver-related events and mortality. Sessions will explore novel drug targets deriving
from human genetics studies of variants protective against FLD. Ultimately, these advances will pave the way to
precision therapeutics to treat NASH, fibrosis and cancer.