It is a great honor for me to be appointed president of the 21st General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology (JSH). Fukuoka will be the host to JDDW for the first time in six years, and JDDW will be held in October, which is a pleasant season of the year in Fukuoka. I expect that many participants will join the conference, where they will find a wide range of cutting-edge information.

We have selected 12 themes for the JSH-led Theme Sessions, among which are two themes for hepatitis C: “Sustained virologic response (SVR) rate in DAA treatment” and “Prognostic improvement of post-SVR patients.” Although the SVR rates in DAA treatment have improved greatly, intractable cases still exist. The first theme focuses on the actual SVR rates experienced and factors associated with non-SVR. On the other hand, the second theme is prognostic improvement of post-SVR patients as not a few cases of hepatocarcinogenesis have been reported after SVR. Reactivation is selected as a theme for hepatitis B. As this theme has not been discussed for a while, we would like to share the latest knowledge. The advancement of hepatitis B treatment has been added as another theme so that these sessions will cover the whole area of hepatitis B. In the field of viral hepatitis, antiviral therapy after liver transplantation is chosen as a theme for the Integrated Program. The efficacy of DAA treatment in hepatitis C has especially attracted broad interest. As for liver cancer, non-B, non-C hepatocellular carcinoma, in particular, will be discussed thoroughly at the Integrated Program. In addition, we have also created a session on liver cancer treatment in the hope of widely attracting abstract submissions. Autoimmune liver diseases will be discussed at the International Session, where we hope to be able to shed light on current situation of the diseases in Asia. Although research levels differ in each Asian country, it is our hope that Japan will fulfill its role as a driver of research in this field in Asia. Furthermore, topics such as NASH, complications of liver cirrhosis, hepatic regeneration and hepatic fibrosis have also been chosen for the Theme Sessions, which will surely appeal to many doctors and researchers to submit their scientific achievements.

All the staff and I look forward to receiving many abstract submissions.