I am Hiroko Iijima of Hyogo College of Medicine. I am pleased to be appointed as President of the 25th General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology (JSH). The society is known for its long tradition. I am the third woman to serve as president, after Professor Yoshiko Sameshima of Kansai Medical University of the 20th Meeting of The Western Branch of JSH and Professor Etsuko Hashimoto of Tokyo Women’s Medical University of the 41st Meeting of The Eastern Branch of JSH. It is indeed an honor. At the same time, I am gearing myself up for taking on this important responsibility. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for giving me this opportunity.
The theme of this meeting is “For Hepatology future, challenge with crossing the boundaries.” When I decided to pursue my career in hepatology in the early 1980s, early detection of liver cancer was not possible. The hepatitis C virus had not been discovered, and hepatitis C was known as non-A, non-B liver cancer. There was no radiofrequency ablation or intraoperative ultrasonography. When looking back, in only about 40 years since that time, hepatology has made a remarkable progress in every area of research, diagnosis, and treatment.
One of the features of JSH is its diversity, with its specialists coming together from a wide range of fields under a shared banner of hepatology. As we look to the future, we must overcome many important challenges both in basic and clinical science related to liver diseases. My belief is that it is essential that these efforts transcend genders, specializations, and national borders, and I have reflected this belief in the meeting theme.
JSH will hold 11 thematic sessions during JDDW. These will cover, among other topics, advances made in relation to liver diseases; the involvement of hepatic fibrosis, life habits, and intestinal bacteria in hepatocarciogenesis; and new treatment strategies to improve prognosis of liver cancer and cirrhosis. We have put together future-oriented programs that will lead to advancement in clinical practice and research on liver diseases. It would please me very much if this meeting motivates young physicians and researchers, prompting progress in hepatology and bringing further development of JSH.
I sincerely hope that the situation surrounding COVID-19 will stabilize by the autumn of 2021 and that we can welcome you to Kobe, a city of sazanka Japanese camellia blossoms.