It is truly an honor for me and members of my department for me to have been appointed President of the 23rd General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology.

Our Society’s first general meeting in this new era following the Heisei Era will be held on November 21 (Thu.) and 22 (Fri.), 2019, in Kobe. The theme is “Advancement of Hepatology in the Post-HCV Age: Let’s Think about the Starting Point of Hepatology.” In the last 20-odd years, a remarkable progress has been made in hepatology research and particularly in clinical research on hepatitis C. It is wonderful that the virus clearance rate for hepatitis C patients is now over 90%. HCV research will arguably form a mainstay in the foundation of future hepatology. Starting from virology-centered hepatology, we can expect to see further progress made in the next-generation hepatology research on the mechanisms of liver diseases now in the midst of being elucidated, including cholestasis, autoimmune liver diseases, and liver cancers. An important future research challenge will be to carry out research from multiple approaches, including metabolism, biochemistry, and cell biology, which have always been the starting points of hepatology.

At JDDW, the Japan Society of Hepatology has nine theme sessions, which requires us to be selective in setting the themes. For the Symposium, we have two themes on “History and Future Outlook of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis in Hepatology” and “New Clinical Development in Lipid and Bile Acid Research.” We will take stock of the diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis of the last 30 years and pass it on to the next generation. Japan has been a leading force in the world in bile acid research, and we will have broad-ranging discussions on new clinical approaches to bile acid research. Clinical trials on new medical treatment for cholestasis, moreover, are being conducted around the world. Therefore, in the International Session Symposium, we have chosen the theme “From Pathology of Cholestatis to Development of New Approaches to Treatment.” We hope to identify and sort current and future developments together with overseas presenters. We also have a theme session on hepatic pathology that laid the foundation for hepatology. This session should provide an opportunity for us to think about functions and morphology. Furthermore, we have theme sessions on some of the clinically important liver diseases, such as fatty liver diseases, hepatitis B, autoimmune liver diseases, drug-induced liver injuries, hepatitis epidemiology, and diagnosis and treatment of liver cancers. These sessions aim to have the next generation of doctors have candid discussions on the current state of affairs and the future outlook.

We look forward to having many of you participate. Thank you very much.