Scott Friedman at the 2020 Breath Biopsy Conference

The 2021 Breath Biopsy Conference is scheduled for 12th & 13th October. Click the button to express interest in the next Breath Biopsy Conference:

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Talk Abstract:
The rising worldwide prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) linked to an increase in diabetes and metabolic syndrome represents a major new challenge to providers, with no approved therapies yet to offer patients. NAFLD, a continuum of liver abnormalities from non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), has a variable course but can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Current estimates indicate US prevalence of 16-20 million Americans with NASH in the US, with far greater numbers in select regions worldwide. While the pathologic and clinical features of NAFLD and its major co-morbidities are well-recognized, a major unmet need is the development of predictive non-invasive biomarkers for patient risk stratification and disease staging in clinical trials. Biomarkers of NAFLD are rapidly evolving through the coordinated efforts of academics, regulatory agencies and commercial stakeholders, and include serum markers, MR imaging, functional tests (primarily breath tests), and combinations thereof. Principles of clinical trial design and emerging targets for drug development are likewise rapidly advancing, although the optimal length of a clinical trial to evaluate agents for NASH is not yet established. The anticipated approval of drugs for NASH in the near future marks the ‘end of the beginning’ in developing treatments for this disease, and progress in biomarker discovery and treatment are likely to accelerate thereafter.

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Scott L. Friedman is the Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He has performed pioneering research into the underlying causes of scarring or fibrosis associated with chronic liver disease, affecting millions worldwide. Dr. Friedman was among the first to isolate and characterize the hepatic stellate cell, the key cell type responsible for scar production in liver. His work has spawned an entire field that is now realizing its translational and therapeutic potential, with new anti-fibrotic therapies for liver disease reaching clinical trials.

A 1979 graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, he served as the President of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, then was a Medical Resident at the Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, followed by a Gastroenterology Fellowship at UCSF before assuming a faculty position there which he held for ten years. During a 1995-96 sabbatical from UCSF he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, in the laboratory of Professor Moshe Oren. Dr. Friedman has given invited honorary lectures throughout the world and has been a named lecturer or Visiting Professor at over 30 institutions worldwide. In 2003, Dr. Friedman was honored with the International Hans Popper Award by the Falk Foundation in Freiburg, Germany, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the understanding of liver disease and its treatment. He has mentored over 85 postdoctoral fellows and students, most of who remain in academic training programs or faculty. In 2012 he was awarded the European Association for the Study of Liver Diseases International Recognition Award in Barcelona, Spain, and in 2013 he was awarded the Shanghai Magnolia Gold Award by the Mayor of Shanghai and the China Friendship Award from the Premier of China in 2014 in recognition of his efforts to improve the health of the residents of Shanghai and China through his research achievements. In 2016 he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Awards from both the AASLD and the American Liver Foundation. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association in 2008, the Am. College of Physicians in 2013, the AASLD in 2014 and the American Association for the Advancement for Science in 2015.

As Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases at Mount Sinai since 2001, Dr. Friedman has expanded the faculty from 5 to 40 individuals, increased NIH grant funding more than 5-fold, clinical trials income more than 10-fold, and overseen the creation of the largest liver fellowship in the United States. Dr. Friedman’s appointment in 2012 as Dean for Therapeutic Discovery at Mount Sinai recognizes his unique strengths in translating basic science into clinically meaningful advances, and his investigative work in liver disease has been instrumental in fueling the tremendous growth in emerging diagnostics and therapeutics for hepatic fibrosis. He is widely respected among commercial partners for his broad expertise from basic science to clinical trials, and currently consults for ~40 companies in the liver disease space. 

The 2021 Breath Biopsy Conference is scheduled for 12th & 13th October. Click the button to express interest in the next Breath Biopsy Conference:

Express Interest