MASH Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Approaches

ABSTRACT Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled MASH Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Approaches organized by Drs. Elizabeth K. Speliotes, Rebecca A. Taub and Hannele Yki-Järvinen, with scientific programming input from Keystone Symposia. The meeting will take place February 23–26, 2025 at Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada. Elevated rates of obesity are linked with an increase in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which may progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), cirrhosis, and liver cancer. The incidence and prevalence of liver disease is rapidly increasing and affects a significant percentage of the world’s population, with concurrent increases in liver disease-related morbidity and mortality. Moreover, despite intensive research efforts, there remain gaps in the understanding the drivers of liver disease, and at present, there are no effective medical treatments for MASLD/MASH. This Keystone Symposia conference will explore the underlying mechanistic links between obesity and liver disease, as well as focus on advancing both basic and translational elements of metabolic disease research. Accordingly, this conference has been paired with another Keystone Symposia conference, Obesity and Adipose Tissue. This is a synergistic pairing, given that lipodystrophy has long been known to promote severe MASLD. Further, new therapeutic approaches, including bariatric surgery and now GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP agonists, are showing clinical effectiveness for remediation of obesity, but are also being tried for MASLD. Shared keynote and joint scientific sessions will promote interaction and foster collaboration between endocrinologists, hepatologists and liver biologists to identify novel strategies to curb liver disease.