S5 - E17.6 - From The Vault: Looking Back At The EASL Congress 2023 Preview & Program Design

Surfing the MASH Tsunami

This week's Vault looks back to the EASL Congress 2023 and includes Aleksander Krag, Sven Francque and all three surfers: Jörn Schattenberg, Louise Campbell and Roger Green. The focus of this conversation revolves around program design. The original conversation came with a robust description:
This conversation starts with Roger’s question to Sven around his role as Educational Councillor and the various educational opportunities embedded within the program. Sven first describes a postgraduate course that focuses on the link between NAFLD and cancer. He goes on to describe a plethora of activities which each embody different levels of education and participation for different stakeholder groups. Notably, he underscores the goal of broadening education to reach parties external to specialist hepatology groups. This is not only about raising awareness, but also engaging communities with the concept of liver health from a very young age. Roger asks what the balance is between virtual and onsite attendance and Aleksander suggests people are trending back to onsite participation. The group discusses why in-person attendance is especially positive for the previously described educational elements. From here Roger asks Aleksander and Sven for their lists of “3 things you can’t miss” for different participating groups. First, he asks what’s not to be missed for a recently minted transplant hepatologist. Next, he shifts focus to what’s not to be missed for attending students.
The conversation shifts to questions from Louise and Jörn which focus on how the program was put together. It becomes clear that this is a multifaceted event that combines the experiences of education, networking, science development and much more. Aleksander likens the meeting to a giant dinner party whereby the organizers are chefs who have taken a year to prepare an extravagant meal for thousands to enjoy. For the remainder of the session, Louise leans in on a comment Aleksander makes about allied health and points out that there are some very good and important sessions around health literacy.