Our Director, Prof. Vicente Arroyo, opened proceedings at a celebratory symposium by welcoming friends and collegues from across Europe to the EF CLIF Headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. Prof. Arroyo shared the floor with Prof. Paolo Angeli who was elected Chair of the EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee at the last annual Consortium meeting.
Prof. Mauro Bernardi chaired the session dedicated to clinical research studies carried out under the umbrella of the EASL Chair aimed to the advancement of knowledge about the epidemiology, pathophysiological mechanisms and natural history of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Prof. Richard Moreau (Clichy, France) presented final ongoing investigations derived from the CANONIC study, Dr. Jonel Trebicka (Bonn, Germany) presented progress in the PREDICT study, Dr. Alberto Farias presented the rationale behind the ACLARA study which is planned to start in May 2018, and Dr. Christophe Moreno (Brussels, Belgium) presented the OBSERVAH study – a global observational investigation addressing alcohol-related hepatitis which is planned to start in September 2018.
Next, Prof. Paolo Angeli chaired the session dedicated to translational research projects carried out under the umbrella of the Grifols Chair aimed to assessing the mechanisms of systemic inflammation in acutely decompensated cirrhosis and ACLF, and the immune modulatory effect of albumin. Dr. Joan Clària (Barcelona, Spain) presented results from in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo models to assess immune function in ACLF; Dr. Javier Fernández (Barcelona, Spain) presented results on human albumin treatment in patients with decompensated cirrhosis; Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Rautou (Clichy, France) presented results on the potential effects of human albumin treatment on circulating microvessicles in patients with cirrhosis, acutely decompensated cirrhosis with and without ACLF; Dr. Shilpa Chokshi (London, UK) presented results on immune checkpoint receptors in patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis with and without ACLF in response to albumin treatment; and Dr. Alexandru Vlagea (Barcelona, Spain) presented results from immunophenotypic analyses of circulating lymphocytes in patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis with and without ACLF.
The discussion was around emerging trends in clinical and translational research focused on data integration from large cohorts.
Finally, Prof. Rajiv Jalan and Prof. Pere Ginés reflected on the spirit of cooperation and the challenges the field of hepatology will need to address in the future.
