Inflammatory and non-tumoural liver diseases: New developments, new challenges!

About this course

Development of this course is underway, and it will be available from the start of September!

EASL and ESP invite you to explore the evolving role of liver biopsy in inflammatory liver diseases through a comprehensive online course. Led by leading experts in hepatology and pathology, each module examines key aspects of biopsy use, from its changing indications to its role in diagnosing conditions such as MASLD, autoimmune hepatitis, and hereditary liver diseases. Gain insights into biopsy strategies for infectious liver diseases, oncology-related liver toxicities, and the value of histology in biliary disorders. Understand the benefits of biopsy compared to non-invasive techniques and explore grading, staging, and scoring systems for various liver conditions. Whether you are a hepatologist, pathologist, or medical professional seeking to refine your expertise, this course provides essential knowledge to enhance your clinical practice. Enrol now and engage in a dynamic learning experience at the intersection of hepatology and pathology.

Benefits for learners

Multidisciplinary approach
Self-directed learning
CME from the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS)
Professional Development

Overview

Learning objectives

The indications of a liver biopsy for the different inflammatory liver diseases.
The added value of a liver biopsy in relation to non-invasive tests.
The grading and staging of the different inflammatory liver diseases.
The importance of the clinicopathological correlation for optimal benefit of a liver biopsy.
The future of pathology: new perspectives and novel technologies.

Target audience

Hepatologists
Gastroenterologists
Pathologists
General practitioners

Modules information

1. General introduction (Summer 2025)

General approach of a liver biopsy in non-tumoural disease: a pathologist point of view, with Prof. Peter Schirmacher
When and how to biopsy: the clinical perspective, with Prof. Ulrich Beuers
Non-invasive diagnosis of diffuse liver diseases, with Prof. Annalisa Berzigotti & Prof. Valérie Vilgrain

2. Metabolic dysfunction associated and alcohol-related steatotic liver disease (Summer 2025)

Clinical summary talk: Metabolic Dysfunction Associated and Alcohol-related Liver Diseases, with Prof. Quentin Anstee
Summary and future perspectives: the role of the pathologist in MASH, with Prof. Valérie Paradis
Summary and future perspectives: the role of the pathologist in ALD, with Prof. Carolin Lackner

3. Viral hepatitis (Summer 2025)

Clinical summary talk: viral hepatitis, an overview of hepatotropic viruses, wth Prof. Darius Moradpour
Summary and future perspectives: the role of the pathologist in viral hepatitis, with Prof. Mina Komuta

4. Immune-mediated liver diseases (Summer 2025)

Clinical summary talk: autoimmune hepatitis, with Prof. Joost Drenth
Summary and future perspectives: role of the pathologist in autoimmune hepatitis, with Prof. Dina Tiniakos
Clinical summary talk: immune-mediated cholangitis, with Prof. Ana Lleo
Summary and future perspective: role of the pathologist in immune-mediated cholangitis, with Prof. Yoh Zen

5. Toxic and drug-induced liver injury (Summer 2025)

Clinical summary talk: toxic and drug-induced liver injury, with Prof. Gerd-Achim Kullak-Ublick & Prof. Einar S. Björnsson
Summary and future perspectives: role of the pathologist in toxic and drug-induced liver injury, with Prof. David Kleiner

6. (Non)-cirrhotic portal hypertension: terminology, grading and reversibility (Summer 2025)

Clinical summary talk: Dynamics of liver cirrhosis and non-invasive tools, with Prof. Wim Laleman
Summary and future perspectives: Role of the pathologist in liver cirrhosis, with Prof. Joanne Verheij
Portosinusoidal vascular disorder: Clinical perspective, with Prof. Andrea de Gottardi
Summary and future perspectives: Role of the pathologist in portosinusoidal vascular disorder, with Prof. Laura Rubia-Brandt
Clinical summary talk: Hereditary diseases, with Prof. Sven Francque
Summary and future perspectives: Role of the pathologist in hereditary diseases, with Prof. Beate Straub

7. New developments (Summer 2025)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pathology, with Prof. Julien Calderaro
Chances and limitations of a liquid biopsy (outside the setting of hepatocellular carcinoma), with Prof. Helen Reeves

How does the course work?

In each module, you will need to complete all the Pre Knowledge Quizzes to determine your current level of understanding. This is not counted as part of your grade for this course.
After completing a Pre Knowledge Quiz you can view the main content related.
After completing the main content you will unlock the Post Knowledge Quiz. You must pass this to complete the module.
Once you pass all the Post Knowledge Quizzes you will need to provide some module feedback in order to unlock your Module Certificate and your CME Credits Certificate.
Continue with the next module.

About the authors

Prof. Sven Francque

Course Director (EASL)

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Prof. Sven Francque

Course Director (EASL)

Prof. Dr Sven Francque is currently the EASL Educational Councillor and Chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the University Hospital Antwerp and Full Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He has a longstanding interest and expertise in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and conducted basic research focusing on the vascular changes in steatosis and their contribution to disease progression. His research unit continues to study pathophysiological mechanisms of NASH. He also conducts clinical research, and his unit is a partner in several research consortia supported by the European Commission. He and his unit participate in most of the clinical trials in the field, and he is a scientific committee member involved in the design of several phase 2 and one of the current phase 3 trials in NAFLD. He is a senior clinical researcher for the Research Fund of the Flemish government. He is board member of several scientific societies and currently also scientific coordinator of the Belgian week of Gastroenterology. Prof. Dr Francque obtained his MD at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in 1994 and was subsequently trained in internal medicine and in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium and at the Department of Hepatology of the Beaujon hospital, Clichy, France.
Prof. Peter Schirmacher

Course Director (ESP)

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Prof. Peter Schirmacher

Course Director (ESP)

Prof. Dr. Peter Schirmacher is Director of the Institute of Pathology at the University Hospital Heidelberg and Professor of Pathology at Heidelberg University. He has a longstanding research and clinical focus on liver cancer, pathology, and translational oncology. He coordinates national and international collaborative research initiatives, notably as coordinator of the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre SFB/TR209 "Liver Cancer", and serves as principal investigator in major German research consortia including the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK) and the German Center for Infectious Diseases Research (DZIF). He is the founding coordinator of several national biobanking platforms, including the centralised BiomaterialBank Heidelberg (BMBH), and plays a leading role in personalised medicine initiatives as Director of the Center for Personalised Medicine Heidelberg. Prof. Schirmacher currently serves as President of the European Society of Pathology and is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He has held multiple leadership roles in scientific societies, including past presidency of the German Society of Pathology, the International Laennec Society of Liver Pathology, and the German Association for the Study of the Liver. He earned his MD and habilitation in Pathology at the University of Mainz and completed postdoctoral research in molecular biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His international recognition includes an honorary doctorate from Semmelweis University in Budapest.
Prof. Joanne Verheij

Course Coordinator (EASL)

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Prof. Joanne Verheij

Course Coordinator (EASL)

Joanne Verheij (1973) studied Medicine in Brussels (Belgium) at the "Université Catholique de Louvain". She graduated in 1999 and started her PhD research at the departments Intensive Care and Nuclear Medicine at the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She did her residency at the Pathology department of the VU Medical Center (Amsterdam) and worked for several years at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Since January 2011, she has been working at the Department of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC, with a specific focus on Hepatopancreatobiliary Pathology. Joanne Verheij is chair of the Dutch Liver Pathology Panel (DLPP) and involved in various national and international multidisciplinary collaborations in the field of hepatopancreatobiliary research and clinical care. She was appointed professor of Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) Pathology at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in December 2019.
Prof. Valérie Paradis

Course Coordinator (ESP)

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Prof. Valérie Paradis

Course Coordinator (ESP)

Prof Valérie Paradis is the chairman of Pathology department (Beaujon hospital, APHP.Nord) and Director of the Research center “Centre de Recherche sur l’Inflammation” /INSERM UMR 1149/EMS8252 Paris). She has a great interest in pathological and molecular aspects of liver fibrosis, vascular diseases, and tumorigenesis with a specific focus on tumor heterogeneity and tumor micro-environment. V Paradis is coordinating several collaborative projects in the field of digestive cancers related to chronic inflammation with a specific interest on imaging at large imaging through (1) MOSAIC aiming to identify multimodal imaging signatures “Imagomics” combining radiological and histological features and Artificial intelligence, (2) InsiTu “Insights into cancer: from inflammation to tumor” merging research and clinical teams mostly devoted to digestive, lung cancers and hematological proliferations, and (3) SANTINEL offering an academic imaging environment for industrial partners to develop and deploy image-based digital tools.

She is member of the Steering committee and Scientific coordinator of the Institut Universitaire du Cancer Paris Nord. She is a member of International groups of liver pathologists, Scientific commissions Research Institutes (INSERM, ANRS). She is currently a member of the Ethical committee of EASL.