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09:00 – 12:00
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Closed-Door Research Meetings (Invitation Only) Pre-conference meeting supported by
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12:00 – 13:00
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Networking Lunch (Registration open from 11.30)
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13:00 – 14:00
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Master of Ceremonies and Moderator
 Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist, UK. Opening Remarks  Jeffrey V Lazarus | Director Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, NY, USA. Research Professor, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain. Director, MASH Cities.  Jörn M Schattenberg | Co-director Professor, Director. Department of Internal Medicine. Saarland University Medical Centre, Germany.  Naim Alkhouri | Co-director Chief Medical Officer, Summit Clinical Research. Director of the SLD Programme, Clinical Research Institute of Ohio, USA. Keynote Speakers  Antoni Plasència Taradach General director of health research and innovation, Department of Health, Spain.
 Mohamed Hassany Leading the first World Health Assembly Resolution on Steatotic Liver Disease. Assistant Minister of Health for Projects and Public Health Initiatives, Arab Republic of Egypt. |
| 14:00 – 15:00 |
Session 1 – Diagnostic Innovations and Models of Care for Steatotic Liver Disease
This session will examine gaps in the continuum of care for steatotic liver disease and explore how novel technologies, including non-invasive and point-of-care screening/case finding tools, and integrated care models can improve early detection, access, and long-term management. It will highlight multidisciplinary and community-based approaches and assess barriers related to adoption of new technologies, digital literacy, and the social determinants of health. Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist, UK. Speakers  Nicola Pugliese Hepatologist – Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan. Karolinska Institutet, Italy.  Cyrielle Caussy Professor of Nutrition, endocrinologist diabetologist, Lyon 1 University, Lyon South Hospital, Lyon Hepatology Institute, France. Panellists Naim Alkhouri Hepatologist, Chief Academic Officer, Summit Clinical Research. Director of the SLD Programme, Clinical Research Institute of Ohio, USA.  Frederik Iredahl General Practitioner (GP), Linköping University and Region Östergötland, Sweden  Silvana Pannain Associate Professor of Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Chicago. Obesity Medicine Director, Center for Weight and Metabolic Health, USA. |
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15:00 – 15:30
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Networking Coffee Break
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| 15:30 – 16:30 |
Interactive Insights: Dynamic Open Space Session for Cutting-Edge Solutions
6 focused conversations | 12 expert facilitators | 100% insightful, participant-driven dialogue Output Moderator  Michael Betel President and Founder, Fatty Liver Alliance. Canada Facilitators  Meena Bansal Chief, Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, USA.  Kristina Curtis Applied Behaviour Change, University College London, UK.  Scott Isaacs Endocrinologist, American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, USA.  Holly Lofton Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Director-Medical Weight Management Programme. NYU Langone Health, USA.  Sonal Kumar Hepatologist, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA.  Melina Manolas Endocrinologist & Assistant Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA.  Maru Rinella Gastroenterologist, Northwestern University Medical School/Northwestern Memorial Hospital, USA. Jörn Schattenberg Professor of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Saarland University Medical Centre, Homburg, Germany.  Ken Cusi Endocrinologist, The University of Florida, USA.  Michael Ninburg Executive Director Emeritus, Hepatitis Education Project, USA.  Paul Brennan Hepatologist, University of Dundee, UK.  Stefan Buttigieg Resident Specialist, Public Health Medicine, Ministry for Health and Active Ageing, Malta.  Lindsay Myles MN NP. Nurse Practitioner, Simcoe Liver Centre. Past President of Canadian Association of Hepatology Nurses, Canada. |
| 16:30 – 17:30 |
Session 2 – Policy Readiness to Confront the Steatotic Liver Disease Public Health Threat
This session will explore opportunities for health systems and policy reform to integrate liver care into broader non-communicable disease strategies and research priorities to support more equitable and sustainable care. This session will assess policy readiness to arrest the rising tide of steatotic liver disease and to meet the increasing demand for treatment and care, including in national policies, clinical guidelines, and strategic frameworks. It will further address the inclusion of SLD in liver-specific, healthy lifestyle and NCD policies, as well as policies on key comorbid conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist, UK. Speakers Jeffrey Lazarus Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, NY, USA. Research Professor, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain. Director, MASH Cities, Spain.  Luis Antonio Diaz Researcher, MASLD Research Center, University of California, San Diego, USA. Panellists  Nikos Dedes Patient representative, Greece.  Kushala Abeysekera Hepatologist, Bristol Royal Infirmary. Consultant Senior Lecturer in Liver Disease Epidemiology, University of Bristol, UK.  Gema Frühbeck Endocrinologist, Obesity Area, Dept. of Endocrinology & Nutrition, CIBEROBN, University of Navarra Clinic, IdiSNA, Spain.  José Ignacio Echániz Former Minister of Health of Madrid; former Health Spokesperson in the National Parliament, Spain. |
| 17:30 – 18:30 |
Session 3 – Where MetALD and ARLD Meet in Metabolic Care
In this session we examine the social and economic roots, stigma, and implications for the prevention and treatment of MetALD and ARLD. We further investigate systemic issues such as under-screening, knowledge gaps, and limited use of non-invasive diagnostic tools, such as PEth (phosphatidylethanol), EtG (ethyl glucuronide), EtS (ethyl sulfate), and AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise). Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist, UK. Speakers  Elisa Pose Hepatologist, Liver Unit, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Idibaps, Spain.  Mark Thursz Professor of Hepatology, Imperial College London, UK. Panellists  Patrizia Carrieri Director, Calipso research team, INSERM (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), Aix-Marseille University, Inserm, IRD, SESSTIM, Economic & Social Sciences of Health & Medical Information Processing, France. Paul Brennan Hepatologist, University of Dundee, UK. Michael Ninburg Executive Director Emeritus, Hepatitis Education Project, USA. |
| 18:30 – 19:00 |
Closing Keynote Address
Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist, UK. Keynotes  Ana María Cebrián Cuenca Family Doctor, Executive Board PCDE-Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Past Chair, Convenor Non-communicable Diseases of WONCA, Spain.  Ferdinant Sonyuy Executive Director / Health Economist, Africa NCDs Network (ANN), Cameroon. Closing Remarks Jeffrey Lazarus Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, NY, USA. Research Professor, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain. Director, MASH Cities, Spain. |
| 19:00 – 21:00 |
Evening Networking Reception on the Deck
Connect, collaborate and amplify the conversation within the metabolic & liver community; a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean sea |
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
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12:30 – 13:00
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Introduction and Opening Address
Speakers Professor Jeffrey Lazarus Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain / The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, NY, USA. Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist (The Lancet, Nature, BMJ, BBC Focus), UK. |
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13:00 – 14:30
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Networking Lunch and “The Lancet Europe Series Papers” Briefing
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14:30 – 15:10
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Part A. An overview of steatotic liver disease: with an emphasis on MASLD/MASH
Speakers Professor Jeffrey Lazarus Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain / The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, NY, USA. Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist (The Lancet, Nature, BMJ, BBC Focus), UK. |
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15:10 – 15:30
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Questions to The Experts
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15:30 – 16:15
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Panel 1: Prevention and treatment of MASLD/MASH: What are the challenges?
Panelists include key opinion leaders, including a hepatologist, an endocrinologist, a primary care physician, a nurse and a person with lived experience. Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist (The Lancet, Nature, BMJ, BBC Focus), UK. Panellists Naim Alkhouri Hepatologist, Chief Academic Officer, Summit Clinical Research. Director of the SLD Programme, Clinical Research Institute of Ohio, USA. Scott Isaacs Endocrinologist, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, USA.  Josep M. Vilaseca GP, Past Treasurer WONCA Europe, Associate Professor at the University of Vic, Spain.
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16:15 – 16:45
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Networking Coffee Break
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16:45 – 17:30
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Part B. Liver in The Newsroom
Presented by Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist (The Lancet, Nature, BMJ, BBC Focus), UK. |
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17:30 – 18:30
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Panel 2: Intersection of Non-communicable Diseases with Obesity, Diabetes Type 2, and an Overview of The MASH Cities initiative
Moderator Jacqui Thornton Health Journalist (The Lancet, Nature, BMJ, BBC Focus), UK. Panellists  Carolina Lapena Senior Primary Care Nurse, Primary Health Care Center Sanllehy, Spain. Ferdinant Sonyuy Health Economist, Executive Director, Africa NCDS Network (ANN), Cameroon. Holly Lofton Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Director-Medical Weight Management Programme. NYU Langone Health, USA. Michael Ninburg Executive Director Emeritus, Hepatitis Education Project, USA.  Trenton White Post-doctoral Fellow; Leading the MASH Cities initiative, ISGlobal, Spain. Closing Remarks |
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18:15 – 20:30
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Evening Networking Reception
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Amplify The Conversation
Exclusive International Media Workshop
25 May 2026
25 May 2026
This exclusive media workshop for Premium Partners connects science and communication. The high-level, intimate forum brings together leading health journalists, editors, and scientific experts to explore the latest developments in chronic liver disease and metabolic health.
Participants gain direct access to the voices shaping public and policy dialogue, exchange insights, and showcase innovation within the global liver and metabolic health ecosystem.
Platinum and Gold partners can nominate journalists or suggest countries, helping shape the conversation and strengthen meaningful connections.
