We launch the DISCOVERY study to assess the effect of human albumin on B cell function in acute decompensated cirrhosis.

We launch the COBALT study to find out if SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have a protective effect in chronic liver disease and after liver transplantation. Two centers, AAST Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital (Italy) and Hannover Medical School (Germany) run the study in a pediatric population.

With the EU-funded A-TANGO project, we aim to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a novel combinatorial treatment with the potential to improve the clinical outcomes of patients with alcohol-related liver disease.

Researchers of the EASL-CLIF Consortium with other experts in the field, review current knowledge of cirrhosis and its complications and discuss the implications for the development of novel biomarkers, devices and drugs to improve treatment for patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis and acute-on-chronic liver failure.

CHANCE

We launch the CHANCE study to assess the benefit of liver transplantation for patients with ACLF 2–3.

With the EU-funded DECISION project, we are exploring the potential of novel combinatorial therapies to prevent the high mortality rate associated with chronic liver disease.

With the EU-funded MICROB-PREDICT project, we are investigating the interplay between gut and liver to enable accurate stratification of patients with chronic liver disease and pave the way for personalize therapies.

The ACLARA study is the first investigation developed by EF CLIF in Latin America with the aim to gain a broader global perspective on ACLF epidemiology and pathophysiology. This effort has been facilitated greatly through the establishment of the ACLARA Consortium, which includes a network of 51 hospitals in 7 countries.

Results from the PREDICT study have allowed to identify four patterns of acute decompensation of cirrhosis in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis (i.e., stable decompensated cirrhosis, unstable decompensated cirrhosis, pre-ACLF and ACLF) and further defining ACLF based on the number of organ/systems failures. Collaborative research efforts have led to the hypothesis that systemic inflammation is the principal mechanism of acute decompensation of cirrhosis and ACLF.

In March 2017, EF CLIF started the PREDICT study, a new observational study conducted in 44 European centers that looked at 1273 patients hospitalized with acute decompensation of cirrhosis in the critical period prior to ACLF development aimed to identify the precipitating events of ACLF and further understand the mechanisms of ACLF progression.

In 2015, the European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure (EF CLIF) is established as a non-profit, independent legal entity and registered under no. 2908 in the Register of Foundations of the Government of Catalonia.

From this moment on, the Foundation provides the legal and institutional framework for the clinical research activities conducted by the EASL-CLIF Consortium under the umbrella of the EASL Chair, and supports the newly constituted Grifols Chair in the promotion of translational research in chronic liver failure with Grifols increasing unrestricted funding to €1.5 M per year.

The CANONIC study, a prospective observational study in 1349 patients with decompensated cirrhosis admitted to 29 European hospitals, aimed to characterize a syndrome that later would be referred to as acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). The first patient was included in January 2011 and data collection completed in less than one year. Main results from the CANONIC study were published in Gastroenterology in 2013.

The CANONIC study has allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the epidemiology, natural history, diagnostic criteria, clinical course, prognosis, prevention and treatment of ACLF, and represents a solid base for future investigations. Up to date, 52 articles derived from the CANONIC study have been published.

In 2009, representatives of Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and Grifols together with the Chairperson of the EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee, signed an agreement by which Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica would provide legal support to the EASL-CLIF Consortium and Grifols would grant an unrestricted fund of €3.5 M for a period of 5 years.

Our current strategy builds on the will of a group of hepatologists to support research in the field of chronic liver disease. Back in 2006, standard medical treatment for patients with cirrhosis lacked any integrative approach to understand and manage the disease. The CLIF Consortium was then established as the major collaborative research effort that have ever existed in Europe aimed at understanding the mechanisms that lead to chronic liver failure.