With the rise of obesity we have seen an increase in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) which affects about 30% of the population in developed countries. MAFLD 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 MAFLD and ways to reduce overall obesity are also being tried for MAFLD, 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.