The EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee is constituted by 15 leading experts in the field of hepatology and gastroenterology across European countries. Members of the EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee met in London during the International Liver Congress (ILC 2022) organized by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) to review and discuss progress of core clinical studies conducted by EF CLIF.

The meeting was hosted by Paolo Angeli, Chair of the EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee.

Vicente Arroyo, Director of EF CLIF, presented indicators and put strategic growth and consolidation of the Foundation into perspective. He recognized the great collaborative effort of researchers and professionals that have contributed to the success of the ACLARA study. Finally, Arroyo presented a novel paradigm for chronic liver disease based on recent findings.

Richard Moreau, Principal investigator of the ACLARA study, presented and discussed final results of this large prospective study promoted by EF CLIF that counted with the collaboration of 44 centers in 7 Latin American countries. Moreau pointed out the relevance of this study that has contributed to furthering the understanding of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Importantly, this study provides evidence of race and genetic ancestry in the severity and high mortality associated with this syndrome.

Thierry Gustot, Vice Chair of the EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee and principal investigator of the CHANCE study, discussed progress of this global, observational study that aims to assess the benefits of liver transplantation in patients with cirrhosis and ACLF grades 2 and 3. Gustot also presented some preliminary data and promising results.

Gautam Mehta, consultant at Royal Free Hospital, clinical researcher at Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology and Associate Professor at University College London, UK, presented the latest results from the ongoing COBALT study. The primary objective of the study is to gain a better understanding of the immune response on cirrhosis and post-transplantation patients after receiving a first, second and third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Mehta presented an ongoing sub-study in a pediatric cohort of patients and introduced prospective ancillary studies.

Gustot presented the newly establishment Inspiring and Writing Group constituted by junior clinicians and researchers as a task force within the Foundation that will contribute to the exchange of ideas on the use and analysis of data collected through original studies promoted by EF Clif with the aim to discover predictors for prognosis of cirrhosis and ACLF, and disseminate these findings.

The meeting ended with the evaluation of candidacies of new members of the EASL-CLIF Consortium. Angeli presented some concluding remarks and shared his insights on the future direction the Foundation.