50 years of EASL – From a European to a global perspective
Authors: Markus Peck-Radosavljevic
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2014)

Dear friends of EASL, 2015 is a very remarkable year for the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL): we enter our 50th year, which we will celebrate at the International Liver Conference (ILC) in April in Vienna; at the same time, the Journal of Hepatology, EASL’s flagship journal, will celebrate its 30th anniversary, as it experiences a tremendous increase in popularity. EASL was founded as a small organization of highly motivated and dedicated researchers, with a genuine interest in liver disease. Since then, EASL has experienced significant growth, particularly over the last 10 years, driven in part by important structural changes within the organization but also fuelled by an unprecedented number of successful drug developments for a series of liver diseases. The biggest success stories amongst these are the control of hepatitis B and the development of a cure for hepatitis C, which has the potential to eradicate chronic hepatitis C worldwide. This rapid growth has transformed EASL from a small scientific society, focused primarily on Europe, into a large multifaceted organization with a major focus on education, research, and public policy in liver disease and related topics, increasingly focused upon globally. In 2014, EASL was pleased to organize the ILC in London, which ended up being the biggest ILC so far with over 10,800 attendees and the most spectacular scientific program in terms of game-changing drug development ever. A little bit less obvious to the average observer was the shift in the geographic distribution of delegates at ILC: 4 out of the 10 largest nations represented at ILC were from outside Europe, including 3 of the 4 BRIC countries. There are several reasons for this, related to big societal changes occurring both in Europe and around the world: Europe is experiencing a long-term economic downturn, which has triggered desocialization within countries and has led to desolidarization, a widening gap between population strata, and organizational changes with the result that health services are increasingly being run by economists, who tend to regard them more as a business than a universal right any more. At the same time globally we see new economic superpowers becoming more health and environmentally conscious and starting to invest heavily in research and education to transform formally low-production cost-driven economies into knowledge-driven economies. A third important factor is the impact of EFPIA and the Sunshine Act, which is leading to changes in the relationship between professional medical associations (PMOs) and the pharmaceutical industry. While no one can predict what the future will bring, the nature and source of funding, on which PMOs have relied for their growth is changing. When combined, all of these changes could be seen as massive challenges for PMOs like EASL. However, EASL still embodies the pioneering spirit that led to its creation and growth; we will not rest on our laurels, no matter how bright the situation might appear in 2014. EASL is dedicated to growth through innovation as exemplified by the young, dynamic governing board, which is enthusiastically embracing these challenges and using them as a catalyst for future growth. Big efforts have been made over the last 18 months by EASL to transcend these challenges and surpass expectations. An important milestone at the European policy level was the launch of HEPAMAP just last month in the European Parliament in Brussels. We presented the roadmap for liver disease research in Europe to our policy makers. The intention is to indicate the research priorities in liver disease from public health through clinical research to basic research in order to improve the decision making process and allow more and better funded liver-oriented projects within the EU framework programs. Even though this is an important step, EASL recognizes that we have not yet fulfilled our potential regarding advocacy work with the European governance bodies. Our next step will be the opening of an EASL EU office in Brussels to ensure we have a permanent representation there for more effective engagement at the EU level. And the EASL office will provide support at the national level, since health is increasingly being perceived as an individual member-state issue by the EU; we will foster more active participation of EASL members in EU-policy discussion in their home countries. In addition, we will work on collaborative opinion building together with other PMOs in areas of relevance for liver diseases. EASL will also strengthen its partnerships in science and education on a global scale. We realized that the highly valued content presented at the ILC, the EASL Monothematic Conferences and the EASL Schools of Hepatology are not available to everyone, who would like to access them at the moment. Providing electronic access for people who cannot attend our meetings is high on our agenda to ensure we increase EASL’s international outreach to areas that are more remote or to scientists who have more limited resources to attend these events in person. EASL is not only providing a full range of electronic education tools through the LiverTree platform but already has successful educational activities like the EASL days in Russia and Kazakhstan and the EASL Schools in China as well as successful scientific collaborations with international PMOs like APASL, and ALEH, as well as large national associations with international outreach like AASLD and others. At the same time, EASL recognizes that in some of those areas, it is not enough to feature our contents in English. For that reason we started to provide foreign language editions of our clinical practice guidelines some time ago in Chinese, Russian, Spanish and soon also in French and Arabic. The Journal of Hepatology is running a Chinese edition, and starting this month also a Russian edition of its most relevant manuscripts, and we already have iLiver in Spanish with more foreign language editions to come. All of this also demands a significant transformation of the organization itself: the EASL office, with its dedicated team of specialists, has already taken over many operational tasks, leading to an enormous increase in EASL’s efficiency and capacity. However, much more can be done: EASL leadership has rightly championed a top-down approach to governance over its first 50 years. This has enabled EASL to drive through many radical ideas. The EASL Governing Board recognizes the benefits but also the limitations of a small powerful leadership in today’s information-rich world and hears the desire of the broader EASL community to contribute to the success of its second 50 years and beyond. This has inspired the creation of several Consorted Action Groups (CAGs) in the areas of basic research, public health, young investigators, and Eastern Europe. These CAGs, demonstrate the hepatology community’s great desire to shape its own future. As EASL grows further, we will need more of this type of collaboration and participation. Stay tuned for further announcements at Vienna and beyond! Only through the contribution of a larger community of highly motivated and dedicated hepatologists will EASL fulfil its vision: to be the ‘Home of Hepatology’, so that everyone involved with liver disease can realize their full potential to cure and prevent it.