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Marek Hartleb is Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice. He is also the Head of the Scientific Committee of the School of Medicine at the same university.
He obtained his medical degree from the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, in 1986. He then pursued a specialisation in internal medicine and gastroenterology. In 1989, he was the recipient of a Fellowship of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Laboratoires Fournier, which allowed him to spend two years working in the Splanchnic Haemodynamic Laboratory at Beaujon Hospital in Clichy, Paris, France. In 2005, he was appointed Professor of medicine.
Since 2014, he has been the President of the Hepatology Section of the Polish Gastroenterology Society. He also holds the post of Vice-President of the Polish Gastroenterology Society. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the national scientific journal Gastroenterologia praktyczna (Practical gastroenterology).
Norbert Stefan is a trained endocrinologist and diabetologist. He is Holder of the W3 Heisenberg Professorship for Clinical and Experimental Diabetology at the University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany. He is also Head of the Department of Pathophysiology of Prediabetes at the Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) of the Helmholtz Centre Munich.
Norbert Stefan focuses on the clinical-experimental approach to understand the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and its complications and to implement intervention strategies to prevent the disease. As a highlight of his research he precisely characterized metabolically healthy obesity and metabolically unhealthy normal weight in humans. A key finding of this research was the identification of the absence of fatty liver and mechanisms involved, more so than of visceral adiposity, as a determinant of metabolic health. Furthermore, he identified several hepatokines by which fatty liver impacts on the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and CVD. He is also conducting clinical trials to treat fatty liver and prevent type 2 diabetes. Norbert Stefan received several national and international scientific awards. He was a member of the executive committee of the German Diabetes Association and president of the 2015 Diabetes Congress of the German Diabetes Association. Norbert Stefan is presently Associate Editor of the scientific journal Diabetes and member of the International Advisory Board of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and received a Visiting Professorship from the Harvard Medical School.
Professor, Head of chair of Internal Medicine II and Gastroenterology Head of Department Gastroenterology, University Emergency Hospital Bucharest
Doctor Carmen Fierbinteanu Braticevici MD, PhD, MPH has received her medical degree from The “Carol Davila” University of Medicine Bucharest in 1981, graduating at the top of her class. She did her residency in Internal Medicine at the same institution, and joined its Faculty in 1988 as Clinical Instructor. She was later promoted to Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Professor in Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine at “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Medical Clinic II and Gastroenterology, University Hospital Bucharest. She holds board certifications in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Diagnostic and Interventional Abdominal Ultrasonography, and has a Masters in Public Health. She serves as Division Chief in the Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Department at The University Hospital Bucharest. Dr. Carmen Fierbinteanu served as a mentor to many generations of medical students and residents. She teaches Courses for the MD Program of the University, postgraduate courses for medical residents and has directed numerous student graduation theses. Every year she participates as evaluating Faculty in the Ministry Of Health’s Residency Selection and Board Certification Exams. She obtained her PhD in Cardiology with the thesis “Silent Myocardial Ischemia” which utilized stress echocardiography for detecting myocardial areas at risk in asymptomatic patients at a time when this was a novel concept. She authored Internal Medicine textbooks in Romania. As a member of EASL and AGA, she published numerous abstracts and articles. She had posters and oral presentations at international meetings. She led two national research projects. She is now implicated in International Projects as PI. She also functions as a research project evaluator for the Romanian Academy and the National Research Project VIASAN.
Leading Researcher research Center Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University 12.2016 – up to date
Professor Military Medical Academy S.M. Kirov 2.2018 - up to date Head of the Department of Therapy Institute "Extreme Medicine" All- Russian Center for Emergency and Radiation Medicine. A.M. Nikiforova EMERCOM of Russia 2.2016 - 12.2017 professor Military Medical Academy S.M. Kirov 12.2008 - 10.2015
Alexander V. Nersesov, MD, ScD, Professor of Medicine – S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Professor Nersesov is currently Head of the Department of Gastroenterology at the S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Invited professor of the Department of Propaedeutics, Gastroenterology and dietetics at the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, St Petersburg, Russia. He studied medicine at the Kazakh State Medical University and completed residency in internal medicine. Then Dr Nersesov went on to specialize in gastroenterology and immunology receiving his academic degrees of Candidate in Medical Sciences (1992), Doctor in Medical Sciences (1999), and academic ranks of Associate Professor and Full Professor (2003). Throughout his career Professor Nersesov has held professional appointment from Research Fellow (1992), Senior Research Fellow (1995) in the sequel and Head (2000) of the Clinical Department at the Research Center of Nutrition, Almaty, Kazakhstan to more recently Professor of Internal Medicine at the Kazakh State Medical Academy, Astana, Kazakhstan (2001-2008). Between 2001 and 2008 Professor Nersesov combined his academic career with state service at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan as the Director of Medical Care and Prevention and the Counsellor for the Minister. In 2009 he moved to Japan as a Visiting Fellow in Hepatology at the National Health Organization Nagasaki Medical Center. On returning to Kazakhstan, Professor Nersesov started working for the National Research Institute of Cardiology and Internal Medicine as a Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (20092-2012), Chair of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy (2012-2019), and then moved to S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University (since 2019). Professor Nersesov has professional affiliations with several professional organizations including European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL). Since 2007 he is the President of the Kazakh Association for the Study of the Liver (KASL). Professor Nersesov’s main clinical and research interests are chronic viral hepatitis? Autoimmine liver disease and liver cirrhosis complications. He is author and co-author of 163 publications in local and international journals, provides clinical supervision, serves as a principal investigator in clinical trials and the main organizer of local and international conferences on gastroenterology and hepatology in Kazakhstan.
Donna R. Cryer, JD, is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Liver Institute (GLI), the only patient-driven liver health nonprofit operating in the U.S. and Europe.
With an undergraduate degree from Harvard/Radcliffe Colleges and a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center, she has channelled her personal experience as a patient with inflammatory bowel disease and a 26-year liver transplant recipient into professional advocacy across a career in law, policy, consulting, public relations, clinical trial recruitment and nonprofit management.
At GLI, Mrs. Cryer has raised more than $5 million for liver health initiatives.
She developed a program featured by the White House on Solving Organ Shortage/Transplantation and numerous other successful programs. These include: the Cure Campaign, Advanced Advocacy Academy (A3), Liver Matters Blog, Liver Matters Health Policy Memo, the NASH Council, the Liver Cancers Council and the Pediatric and Rare Liver Diseases Council.
For almost a decade, Mrs. Cryer founded and led CryerHealth, a healthcare consultancy firm providing strategic counsel to top biopharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy organisations and emerging technology firms on patient engagement in health information technology, drug discovery and clinical decision making.
Yiwen Shi is a postdoc at Xinhua hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Dr. Shi’s background is clinical medicine and liver diseases. Her research interests are in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, metabolic disorder diseases and viral hepatitis. She has participated in several NASH novel drugs clinical trials. She has published her work in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, and others. She presented and posted her research at conferences of European Association for the Study of the Liver and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. She obtained her doctors degree and masters degree in Capital Medical University in Beijing, China.
Head of the Department of Therapy and Head of the Center for evidence based medicine, ‘Sechenov’ First Moscow State Medical University.
Prof Pavlov is Head of the Department of Therapy and Head of the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine at ‘Sechenov’ First Moscow State Medical University, Russia.
He is also editor for Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, providing guidance to authors and ensuring the quality of their work. Prof Pavlov is Vice President for foreign relations with the Russian Scientific Liver Society and Vice President of the Russian Scientific Society for the Study of Microbioma.
His research interests are fatty liver diseases.
Dr. Jian-Gao Fan received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in 1994 at the Shandong Medical University, and his Ph.D. in 1997 at the Shanghai Second Medical University, respectively, both in China.
He was a Gastroenterologist and then also Associate Professor at Shanghai 1 st People’s Hospital from 1997 to 2007. He was a Visiting Scholar of Australian National University Medical School (Canberra, Australia) from 2007 to 2008. Then and up to now, he is Professor and Director of Center for Fatty Liver & Department of Gastroenterology at Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and Principle Investigator of Shanghai Key Lab of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
Currently, he is Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Practical Hepatology, president of Committee on Fatty Liver Diseases, Chinese Physicians' Association, past-president for Shanghai Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and past-chief of The China National Study Group on Fatty Liver and Alcoholic Liver Disease. He is a member of the editorial board of more than 20 journals, i.e., Clin Mol Hepatol., J Clin Trans Hepatol, J Dig Dis, HBPD INT, World J Gastroenterol, and also lots major journals’ peer-reviewers, i.e., Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Arch Intern Med, Diabetes Care, J Hepatol.
His main research interests are in the fields of metabolic syndrome and chronic liver diseases. He has published over 700 peer-reviewed academic papers (including over 127 articles in SCI journals as the first and/or correspondent author, i.e, Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol, Hepatology, J Hepatol, Aliment Pharmacol Ther., Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol.,Cancer Lett, EBioMedicine, Liver Int, Exp Mol Med, and 5 book chapters in English) with H-index 51, and 19 books as editor-in-chief, i.e, 1 st & 2 nd Edition, Fatty Liver Disease in China People’s Medical Publishing House. He was co-chairman of the Biennial Shanghai International Forum on Digestive Diseases between 2010-2021, and invited speaker in over 20 countries and regions.
Representative Publications
[1] Ren TY, Fan JG*. What are the clinical settings and outcomes of lean NAFLD?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2021;18(5):289-290. IF:46.802
[2] Zhao ZH#, Wang ZX#, Zhou D, Han Y, Ma F, Hu Z, Xin FZ, Liu XL, Ren TY, Zhang F, Xue Y, Cui A, Liu Z, Bai J, Liu Y, Cai G, Su W, Dai X, Shen F, Pan Q, Li Y*, Fan JG*.Sodium butyrate supplementation inhibits hepatic steatosis by stimulating liver kinase B1 and insulin-induced gene. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 May 11:S2352-345X(21)00095-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2021.05.006. IF:9.225
[3] Liu XL, Pan Q, Cao HX, Xin FZ, Zhao ZH, Yang RX, Zeng J, Zhou HP, Fan JG*. Lipotoxic Hepatocyte-Derived Exosomal miR-192-5p Activates Macrophages via Rictor/Akt/FoxO1 Signaling in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Hepatology. 2020;72(2):454-469. IF:17.425
[4] Shen F, Zheng RD, Mi YQ, Wang XY, Pan Q, Chen GY, Cao HX, Chen ML, Xu L, Chen JN, Cao Y, Zhang RN, Xu LM, Fan JG*. Moderate to severe hepatic steatosis leads to overestimation of liver stiffness measurement in chronic hepatitis B patients without significant fibrosis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2019;50(1):93-102. IF: 7.731
[5] Zhao ZH, Xin FZ, Xue YQ, Hu ZM, Han YM, Ma FG, Zhou D, Liu XL, Cui AY, Liu ZS, Liu YX, Gao J, Pan Q, Li Y*, Fan JG*. Indole-3-propionic acid inhibits gut dysbiosis and endotoxin leakage to attenuate steatohepatitis in rats. Exp Mol Med. 2019; 51(9):103. IF:5.418, 8.718
[6] Zhou D, Chen YW, Zhao ZH, Yang RX, Xin FZ, Liu XL, Pan Q, Zhou H*, Fan JG*. Sodium butyrate reduces high fat diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis through upregulation of hepatic GLP-1R expression. Exp Mol Med. 2018; 50(12):157. IF:5.584
[7] Fan JG*, Kim SU, Wong Vincent WS*. New Trends on Obesity and NAFLD in Asia. J Hepatol, 2017; 67:862-873. IF: 14.911
Gert Fricker is Professor at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology in the Faculty of Biosciences, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
He studied chemistry and medicine at the University of Freiburg, Germany, completing his PhD in 1986. He then worked as a Post-Doc in the Clinical Pharmacology Department, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. In 1988 he became research scientist at Sandoz Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland. In the Drug Delivery Systems Department he studied mechanisms of drug permeation across barrier tissues.
In 1995 he was appointed as Professor at the University of Heidelberg, becoming chair of Pharmaceutical Technology in 2002.
In addition to his university affiliation, Prof Fricker is Head of the Biopharmacy and Analytics Technology Transfer Center in Heidelberg, a service centre for the pharmaceutical Industry.
In 2016, he set-up HeiDelTec GmbH a spin-off company from the University of Heidelberg offering novel oral peptide drug delivery solutions.
His main research interests are the permeation of drugs across barrier tissues with particular emphasis on the intestine and blood brain barrier as well as the development of drug targeting systems with colloidal drug carriers.
President of Inova Medicine, Inova Health System and the Chairman and Professor of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, United States.
Prof Younossi is the President of Inova Medicine, Inova Health System and the Chairman and Professor of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. He is also the Chairman of Clinical Research, Inova Health System.
Prof Younossi earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York (Alpha Omega Alpha, 1989), and completed his residency in internal medicine as well as a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California. During his residency and fellowship, he earned his Master of Public Health degree from San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health in San Diego, California, being awarded both the Hanlon Award and Outstanding Student Award for SDSU. He then served as the Staff Hepatologist and Senior Researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio (1995– 2000). In 2000, Prof Younossi joined Inova Health System to establish the Center for Liver Diseases.
Prof Younossi is an internationally known hepatologist who has pioneered research in NAFLD and has been a leader in the field of patient-reported outcomes, economic assessment and outcomes research in liver disease. He is the Chair of Global NASH Council and the Global Liver and NASH Registries. His research in both NAFLD and outcomes research is extensively cited and he is a highly sought-after speaker for national and international scientific meetings.
Prof Younossi specializes in hepatology and gastroenterology and has authored over 600 articles, 3 books, 6 journal supplements and has delivered over 430 faculty lectures in national and international meetings. Prof Younossi has also served as the co-editor of Liver International, Associate Editor of Journal of Hepatology and the editorial board of a number of important medical journals. He has represented the American Association of Liver Disease and American Gastroenterological Association at different congressional meetings.
Director of the Metabolic Liver Research Program, University Medical Center Mainz, Germany.
Prof Schattenberg is the Director of the Metabolic Liver Research Program and the Clinical Liver Research Unit at the University Medical Center Mainz, Germany.
He is a full professor of Medicine and serves on the Editorial Board of Hepatology and Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. He is a member of the executive committee of the LITMUS consortium for the validation of biomarkers in NASH.
His research interests are on clinical and experimental aspects of metabolic and toxic liver injury, the development of therapeutic intervention and novel biomarkers in NASH
Chief physician, professor, and assistant director of Peking University Hepatology Institute. She is also deputy director of the scientific research department and deputy director of the clinical trial institution in Peking University People’s Hospital.
Prof Rao is the Chief physician and professor, and assistant director of Peking University Hepatology Institute, China. She is also the deputy director of the scientific research department and deputy director of clinical trial institution in Peking University People’s Hospital, China.
Prof Rao carried out her medical and research training at Peking University Health Science Center before being appointed as lecturer in infectious diseases in 2006.
Her research interests are in clinical management of viral hepatitis, fatty liver diseases and cirrhosis
Prof Mao is Director of the Shanghai Research Center for Fatty Liver Disease and Chief Physician in the Renji Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology. Professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, he has 30 years of clinical experience in the management of liver diseases, especially in drug-induced liver injury (DILI) and NAFLD.
Prof. Mao has conducted more than 200 clinical trials as principal investigator in the field of gastrointestinal and liver diseases in China. He is also the leading PI of National Eleven-Five and Twelve-Five Projects for building clinical and translational research platforms for liver disease in China. He has published more than 200 papers in well-considered international journals such as Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Liver International, etc.
He is currently a member or president of numerous national and international associations including: the DILI Working Group of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Science (CIOMS), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Chinese Society of Hepatology, Chinese Medical Association and more.
Head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at the Medical University of Silesia and Medical Director at NZOZ Terapia Optima in Katowice.
Prof Okopień is Head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at the Medical University of Silesia and Medical Director at NZOZ Terapia Optima in Katowice, Poland.
Prof Okopień has achieved specializations in Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology and Hypertensiology. He is a member of the Polish Pharmacological Society, Polish Society of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapy, Polish Society of Internal Medicine, Society of Monitored Therapy, New York Academy of Sciences, Polish Society of Insurance Medicine, Polish Society for the Research of Atherosclerosis, and the International Atherosclerosis Society.
Prof Okopień has received a medal for the National Education Committee, the 100th Anniversary of the Polish Society of Internal Medicine and the Badge of Merit for the Silesian Medical University.
He is the author of 587 scientific papers and his main research interest is in the field of pharmacology, where his team have received several awards: the 1st degree of the Minister of Health twice; the 2nd degree award of the Rector of ŚAM; and the 1st degree Rector of SUM.
Alexander V. Nersesov, MD, ScD, Professor of Medicine – S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Professor Nersesov is currently Head of the Department of Gastroenterology at the S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Invited professor of the Department of Propaedeutics, Gastroenterology and dietetics at the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, St Petersburg, Russia. He studied medicine at the Kazakh State Medical University and completed residency in internal medicine. Then Dr Nersesov went on to specialize in gastroenterology and immunology receiving his academic degrees of Candidate in Medical Sciences (1992), Doctor in Medical Sciences (1999), and academic ranks of Associate Professor and Full Professor (2003). Throughout his career Professor Nersesov has held professional appointment from Research Fellow (1992), Senior Research Fellow (1995) in the sequel and Head (2000) of the Clinical Department at the Research Center of Nutrition, Almaty, Kazakhstan to more recently Professor of Internal Medicine at the Kazakh State Medical Academy, Astana, Kazakhstan (2001-2008). Between 2001 and 2008 Professor Nersesov combined his academic career with state service at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan as the Director of Medical Care and Prevention and the Counsellor for the Minister. In 2009 he moved to Japan as a Visiting Fellow in Hepatology at the National Health Organization Nagasaki Medical Center. On returning to Kazakhstan, Professor Nersesov started working for the National Research Institute of Cardiology and Internal Medicine as a Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (20092-2012), Chair of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy (2012-2019), and then moved to S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University (since 2019). Professor Nersesov has professional affiliations with several professional organizations including European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL). Since 2007 he is the President of the Kazakh Association for the Study of the Liver (KASL). Professor Nersesov’s main clinical and research interests are chronic viral hepatitis? Autoimmine liver disease and liver cirrhosis complications. He is author and co-author of 163 publications in local and international journals, provides clinical supervision, serves as a principal investigator in clinical trials and the main organizer of local and international conferences on gastroenterology and hepatology in Kazakhstan.
Leading Professor at Storr Liver Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney, Westmead, Australia.
Professor Eslam is an Associate Professor of hepatology at the Storr Liver Centre, University of Sydney. He heads the fatty liver and genomics groups at Storr Liver Centre and the International Liver Genetics Consortium that led to the identification of genetic and epigenetic factors that impact hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis. He led the international consensus for redefining fatty liver disease. Professor Eslam undertakes basic and clinical research on MAFLD, hepatitis C, liver cancer and hepatic fibrosis and is the author of more than 120 publications. He is on the Editorial Board of Liver International, Clinical and Experimental Medicine, the Journal of Clinical andTranslational Hepatology and World Journal of Hepatology.
A. I. Leading Professor at Evdokimov, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Ministry of Health of Russia, Moscow, Russia. President of the Gastroenterology Scientific Society of Russia.
Professor Lazebnik is a Professor of the Department of Outpatient Internal Medicine at the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry. In addition to his teaching, Professor. Lazebnik holds a number of senior roles, including Editor-in-Chief of the Experimental and Clinical Gastroenterology journal, President of the Gastroenterological Scientific Society of Russia and Vice-President of the Russian Scientific Society of Internal Medicine. As a member of the Guidelines Committee of the World Gastroenterology Organization, Professor Lazebnik has played an instrumental role in shaping the way patients are treated and managed.
Digital & Social Media Strategist & Reverse Mentor
Alexandra Fulford is a digital and social media strategist and reverse mentor,specialised in the healthcare industry and digital transformation. Her areas of specialty are digital transformation, digital and socialmedia strategy and implementation, social media processes,guidelines, training and implementation and global to loca limplementation. She is also an experienced reverse mentor for C Suite executives, and has developed reverse mentoring programmes for pharma companies to help drive digital and strategic transformation.
Asad Dajani Specialized Clinic, with affiliation to Medcare and Saudi German hospital in Sharjah.
Doctor Dajani is a Consultant Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist at Asad Dajani Specialized Clinic, with affiliation to Medcare and Saudi German hospital in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He was instrumental in establishing the Endoscopy service at the Kuwait and Al Qassimi Hospitals in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Doctor Dajani has many publications in the field of his work and is also a member of the editorial board for many reputed journals of gastroenterology and Chairman and Moderator for many of the local Emirates Medical Associations, regional and international symposia and conferences.
