State-of-the-art lectures
About the State-of-the art lectures at EASL Congress 2026
The State-of-the-Art lectures feature key opinion leaders and authorities from various fields, and offer insights into the latest developments that are shaping the future of hepatology.
Jean-Pierre Benhamou clinical State-of-the-Art: The promise and pitfalls on non-invasive testing
Friday, 9 May, 14:00 - 14:45 CEST
Heiner Wedemeyer
Director of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases, and Endocrinology
Hannover Medical School
Hannover, Germany
Heiner Wedemeyer is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School since April 2020. He previously held the same chair at University Clinic Essen from 2018 to 2020.
He received his medical degree from the University of Göttingen in 1996 and completed his specialist training in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at Hannover Medical School, where he became Professor of Medicine in 2011. From 1998 to 2000, he was a research fellow in immunology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA.
Professor Wedemeyer has played a leading role in the German Network of Competence on Viral Hepatitis and the German Liver Foundation for over 15 years and currently serves as Managing Director of the German Hepatitis C Registry. He was Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of the Liver from 2009 to 2011.
His research focuses on viral hepatitis, liver transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma. He has led numerous clinical trials on antiviral therapy and immunotherapy for hepatitis B, C, D and E and has authored over 500 original publications, with an H Index of 98 and more than 42,000 citations. He has received several international awards and his research is supported by major national and international funding bodies.
About this lecture
Over the past decade, viral hepatitis care has evolved substantially, driven by major advances in antiviral therapies, diagnostics, and models of care delivery. These developments have improved clinical outcomes and reshaped clinical decision-making, while also supporting ambitious public health goals such as the elimination of viral hepatitis. At the same time, the field continues to move rapidly, with ongoing innovation raising important questions about how best to translate progress into sustainable, real-world impact.
This session will examine the direction in which viral hepatitis care is heading over the near future. It will address how innovation in treatment, diagnostics, and care delivery is altering clinical decision-making and long-term disease control. The discussion will span from population-level elimination efforts to disease-specific advances in hepatitis B and D, with a particular focus on how these developments are expected to translate into meaningful clinical impact.
Learning objectives
- To review how the development of highly effective direct-acting antivirals has transformed hepatitis C management, and to discuss why targeted micro-elimination strategies are pivotal to achieving the WHO 2030 elimination goals.
- To examine emerging and novel biomarkers in chronic hepatitis B, and to understand how these tools are expected to refine risk stratification, treatment selection, and future therapeutic endpoints.
- To summarize the evolving therapeutic pipeline for hepatitis B and to explore how forthcoming agents are likely to shift current treatment paradigms toward finite therapy and functional cure.
- To highlight the clinical relevance of hepatitis D as a rapidly progressive and frequently underdiagnosed disease, and to outline recent advances in HDV therapy, including the approval of the first virus-specific agent and the ongoing phase III clinical development programs.
Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer basic science State-of-the-Art: Bile acid signalling
Thursday, 28 May, 14:00 - 14:45 CEST
Ulrich Beuers
Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Amsterdam University Medical Centre
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ulrich Beuers is Professor emeritus at Amsterdam University Medical Centre and a specialist in Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine. He completed his medical education in Gent, Berlin and Freiburg and pursued postdoctoral training in Biochemistry at the University of Göttingen, followed by clinical training in Munich, where he obtained his habilitation. He held research appointments at Yale University and became Professor of Internal Medicine in Munich in 2001, later moving to Amsterdam as Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Chair of Hepatology from 2010 to 2023.
His research has focused for several decades on the pathogenesis and treatment of immune mediated cholestatic liver diseases, with particular emphasis on the role of bile acids. Professor Beuers has published more than 650 peer reviewed articles and has been an invited speaker at scientific meetings in over 35 countries. He served for 18 years as Assistant and Associate Editor of the Journal of Hepatology and held numerous leadership roles, including Chair of the Netherlands Association for the Study of the Liver and member of the EASL Governing and Executive Boards.
Professor Beuers has chaired and contributed to several European clinical guidelines, mentored 40 doctoral fellows, and received many national and international awards, including the EASL Recognition Award in 2025.
About this lecture
The hydrophobic bile acid (BA) taurolithocholic acid (TLCA), a secondary bile acid in humans, has experimentally been documented to induce cholestasis and liver cell injury in the 1960ies1. Signaling properties of TLCA stronger than those induced by primary BA were demonstrated since the late 1980ies2. Experimental reversal of TLCA-induced cholestasis by pharmacological inhibition of posttranscriptional TLCA signaling was shown in the early 2000s3. At the same time, the hydrophilic tertiary BA tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) was unraveled as a potent anticholestatic and cytoprotective posttranscriptional activator of complex signaling pathways different from TLC via dual MAPK- and integrin-dependent and Ca++/type II inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate receptor/cPKCα/PKA-dependent mechanisms in healthy and cholestatic livers, respectively4-11. For individuals with the most frequent chronic cholestatic disorder, primary biliary cholangitis, therapy with UDCA due to its beneficial effects on cholestasis, inflammatory activity and long-term prognosis is today established12 and for various other cholestatic disorders under evaluation, but widely used13, 14.
With the identification and characterization of nuclear BA receptors15 like the farnesoid X receptor (FXR)16, the pregnane X receptor (PXR), the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) or the vitamin D receptor (VDR), and membrane BA receptors like Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5)17 and others a new dimension of BA research was evolving in the early 21st century leading to increasing understanding of transcriptional regulation of synthesis, transport and metabolism of BA and carbohydrate, lipid and amino acid metabolism15, 18. Consequently, development of innovative therapeutic interventions such as the therapeutic BA norucholic acid (NCA) – like TUDCA an activator of the cholangiocellular chloride channel anoctamin-1 and TGR5 rescuer, and a mTOR inhibitor in immune cells -, steroidal and nonsteroidal FXR, PXR and TGR5 agonists or intestinal and hepatic BA uptake inhibitors in hepatobiliary diseases has been made possible and is ongoing19.
This lecture will explore recent advances in our understanding of transcriptional and posttranscriptional bile acid signaling, focusing on its role in hepatobiliary (patho-) physiology and potential therapeutic interventions. Attendees will gain insights into emerging novel therapeutic BA targets and future directions in basic and translational bile acid research.
Learning objectives
- Bile acids (BA) as potent signaling molecules in liver, bile ducts and intestine
- BA-induced transcriptional vs. posttranscriptional signaling
- Signaling of therapeutic vs. potentially toxic BA
- Therapeutic modulation of BA synthesis and enterohepatic circulation
- Future therapeutic developments related to BA signaling
