Editor’s Note
From November 10 to 14, 2023, the 74th American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD 2023) meeting was held in Boston, USA. The conference president, Professor Norah Terrault from the University of Southern California, gave an interview on-site to “Hepatology Digest.” She discussed the main highlights of this year’s meeting, the status of attendee and abstract submissions, emphasizing the exciting advancements in metabolic associated fatty liver disease and viral hepatitis, and noting the academic vitality in the field of liver disease has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. The video of this interview and the original transcript in both Chinese and English are compiled below for readers’ reference.
Interview on-site with the conference president by “Hepatology Digest”
Hepatology Digest : What are the main highlights of this year’s conference? How does it differ from the previous two?
Professor Norah Terrault : The significance of this year’s conference lies not only in its massive scale, with over 8,500 attendees, but also in the fact that we are able to gather with all our colleagues again. It seems we have fully recovered from the pandemic, with everyone returning for the in-person meetings.
This year, we made some changes to the presentation format of some meetings. For example, we scheduled continuing education courses, transplant courses, and basic science symposiums on Friday, and newly allocated these meetings and courses. Then, we arranged the Special Interest Group (SIG) courses for Saturday. We have many SIGs, each offering their unique courses, which were well-attended, indicating a successful agenda. Following these courses, we officially entered the core content of the conference, hearing cutting-edge lectures and seeing new research presentations.
Another exciting highlight of this year’s meeting is the Presidential Plenary Session, where we invited digital medicine expert Dr. Leslie Saxon to speak about the latest advancements. This gives us a glimpse into how digital medicine can truly help our patients in the near future.
The conference was packed with over 200 meetings and lectures, and more than 2,300 abstracts were submitted. In fact, only a small portion of these abstracts were selected for oral presentations, while the poster hall was very busy with many attendees engaging in discussions and learning.
Hepatology Digest : How many attendees gathered from around the world for this meeting? What proportion of participants came from the Asia-Pacific region?
Professor Norah Terrault : Representatives from 85 countries attended this year’s meeting. As I mentioned earlier, there were over 8,500 attendees, most of whom were present in person. We also provided an online participation option. So, for those who couldn’t physically attend, we offered a virtual platform for their involvement, but the vast majority of representatives from 85 countries were present at the meeting.
Hepatology Digest : How was the submission of abstracts for this conference? Will there be new research results presented in the treatment of fatty liver disease and viral hepatitis?
Professor Norah Terrault : The number of abstracts submitted for this conference was overwhelming, too many to detail individually. However, one of the conference’s focal points is the recognition of a new nomenclature for liver diseases. We no longer use the term Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) but now refer to Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), which is related to metabolic dysfunction. Many abstracts were submitted on this topic. Among the major research abstracts, some new Phase II study data for drugs will be released. Thus, for MAFLD and Metabolic Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) patients, it is an extremely exciting time.
The progress in viral hepatitis research is also very exciting. Many meetings and lectures about Hepatitis B are scheduled for this conference. The concepts of functional cure and simplified treatment are hot topics. In the major research abstracts, results of new drug studies for hepatitis B treatment will also be presented.
Hepatology Digest : Did the three years of COVID-19 greatly impact the management of liver disease patients, as well as clinical and basic research in liver disease and the development of new drugs?
Professor Norah Terrault : This is a very interesting question, and we still don’t know the full impact of COVID-19. From this meeting, it is almost certain that researchers, clinicians, and advocates are returning to participate. I find this very heartening; we can feel that we have recovered, and indeed, we are seeing many new methods of treating liver disease, as we have always been committed to finding new ways to improve liver health. So, I believe the academic vitality in the field of liver disease has clearly revived, and this conference is ample proof of that.
