The Liver Week 2026

PROGRAM

A Big Welcome to the Liver Festivalin Seoul, Korea

June 11-13, 2026ICONRAD, Seoul, Korea

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE DAILY PROGRAM INVITED FACULTY MEAL PLAN INDUSTRY SYMPOSIA

*K: Session in Korean

09:10-10:30

KASL Symposium 5
Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Alcohol-Related Liver Disease (MetALD)

Chair: Stefano Romeo (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden), Yong Kyun Cho (Sungkyunkwan Univ.)

  • 09:10-09:30

  • Outcomes and Prognosis in MASLD: Genetic Determinants from Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms to Beyond

    Stefano Romeo (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)

  • 09:30-09:50

  • MASLD vs. MetALD: Interactions between Alcohol Intake and Metabolic Risk Factors

    Sang Gyune Kim (Soonchunhyang Univ.)

  • 09:50-10:10

  • Standardizing Histological Grading and Staging in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) Clinical Trials: Consensus Position Statements from the International Pathology Group

    Young Nyun Park (Yonsei Univ.)

  • 10:10-10:30

  • Future of MASH Treatment: GLP-1/GIP Agonists, Resmetirom, and Beyond

    Dae Won Jun (Hanyang Univ.)

  • 10:30-10:50

  • Coffee Break

10:50-11:20

State-of-the-Art Lecture

Chair: Soon Koo Baik (Yonsei Univ. Wonju)

  • 10:50-11:20

  • Developing Drugs for Liver Fibrosis

    David A. Brenner (Sanford Burnham Prebys, USA)

11:20-12:20

Plenary Presentation: Late-Breaking Abstracts

Chair: June Sung Lee (Inje Univ.), Jong Eun Yeon (Korea Univ.), Kwang-Woong Lee (Seoul National Univ.)

  • 12:20-13:10

  • Luncheon Symposium 8

13:10-13:50

2026 KASL Clinical Practice Guidelines

Chair: Young-Suk Lim (Univ. of Ulsan), Tatsuya Kanto (Japan Institute for Health Security, Japan)

  • 13:10-13:50

  • Management of Chronic Hepatitis B: 2026 KASL Update

    In Hee Kim (Jeonbuk National Univ.)

13:50-15:10

KASL Symposium 7
Liver Cirrhosis, Portal Hypertension, and Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF): Advancing the Continuum of Care from Organ Failure to Recovery

Chair: Seng-Gee Lim (National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore), Jae Young Jang (Soonchunhyang Univ.)

  • 13:50-14:10

  • ACLF across Definitions: Harmonizing Diagnostic Criteria and Organ Failure Assessment

    Jung Hee Kim (Hallym Univ.)

  • 14:10-14:30

  • Management of Acute Kidney Injury in ACLF: Current Evidence and Unmet Needs

    Rakhi Maiwall (Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, India)

  • 14:30-14:50

  • Achieving Recompensation in Cirrhosis: Evidence and Future Directions

    Yu Jun Wong (Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore)

  • 14:50-15:10

  • ACLF: Transplant before It’s Too Late

    Dong-Sik Kim (Korea Univ.)

  • 15:10-15:20

  • Coffee Break

15:20-16:20

The Liver Week 2026 Debrief

Chair: Jeong-Hoon Lee (KASL), Jun Yong Park (KLCA), Jongman Kim (KAHBPS), YoungRok Choi (KLTS)

  • 15:20-15:35

  • KASL

  • 15:35-15:50

  • KLCA

  • 15:50-16:05

  • KAHBPS

  • 16:05-16:20

  • KLTS

  • 16:20-16:40

  • Closing and Awards

08:00-09:00

KASL-AASLD Morning Workshop
The Evolving Landscape of Liver Transplantation: From Policy to Practice

Chair: Jung-Hwan Yoon (Seoul National Univ.), W. Ray Kim (Mayo Clinic, USA)

  • 08:00-08:20

  • Expanding the Donor Pool: Donation after Circulatory Death, Donation after Brain Death, and Ex-vivo Graft Management Strategies

    Parissa Tabrizian (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA)

  • 08:20-08:40

  • Optimizing Allocation and Policy Models: Balancing Equity and Efficiency in Opt-in vs. Opt-out Systems

    Willscott Naugler (Oregon Health & Science Univ., USA)

  • 08:40-09:00

  • Expanding Recipient Criteria for HCC: Lessons from Living Donor Liver Transplantation and Regional Experiences

    Suk Kyun Hong (Seoul National Univ.)

09:10-10:30

KASL Symposium 6
Transformative Strategies for Functional Cure of Chronic Hepatitis B: Novel Insights and Future Perspectives

Chair: Han Chu Lee (Univ. of Ulsan), Man-Fung Yuen (The Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • 09:10-09:30

  • Antisense Oligonucleotides vs. siRNA: Which Represents the Better Option for HBV Treatment?

    Man-Fung Yuen (The Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • 09:30-09:50

  • Gene Therapies to Achieve Functional Cure in Chronic Hepatitis B

    Edward Gane (Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand)

  • 09:50-10:10

  • Do Capsid Inhibitors Have a Role in Achieving HBV Cure?

    Sang Hoon Ahn (Yonsei Univ.)

  • 10:10-10:30

  • Endpoints of Chronic Hepatitis B Therapy: Partial, Functional, and Sterilizing Cure 

    Seng-Gee Lim (National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore)

  • 12:20-13:10

  • Luncheon Symposium 9

13:50-15:10

Advances in Experimental Hepatology

Chair: Yoon Mee Yang (Sungkyunkwan Univ.), Hyun Young Kim (Dankook Univ.)

  • 13:50-14:20

  • Reversibility of Activated Portal Fibroblast in Cholestatic Liver Fibrosis Regression

    Tatiana Kisseleva (Univ. of California San Diego, USA)

  • 14:20-14:50

  • At the Frontline of Metabolic Liver Disease: Stress and Inflammation

    Michael Karin (Sanford Burnham Prebys, USA)

  • 14:50-15:10

  • Transcriptional Regulation of Hepatic Stellate Cell Phenotypes during Liver Fibrosis Resolution

    Wonseok Lee (Gachon Univ.)

08:30-09:00

2026 KLCA Practice Guidance of SBRT: Expert Consensus (*K)

Chair: Sang Hoon Park (Hallym Univ.)

  • 08:30-09:00

  • Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: Expert Consensus-Based Practical Recommendations of KLCA

    Sang Min Yoon (Univ. of Ulsan)

09:10-10:30

KLCA Symposium 3
Therapeutic Update and Emerging Therapy in HCC

Chair: Hee Chul Park (Sungkyunkwan Univ.), Do Young Kim (Yonsei Univ.)

  • 09:10-09:30

  • Carbon Ion Therapy: The Next Step in Precision Radiotherapy

    Kei Shibuya (Gunma Univ., Japan)

  • 09:30-09:50

  • Advances in Interventional Oncology: From TACE to TARE and Beyond

    Gyoung Min Kim (Yonsei Univ.)

  • 09:50-10:10

  • Novel Molecular and Cellular Therapies in HCC: The Next Wave

    Stephen Lam Chan (The Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • 10:10-10:30

  • Multidisciplinary Horizons: From Immune Checkpoint Blockade to Liver Transplantation

    Ju Dong Yang (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA)

  • 12:20-13:10

  • Luncheon Symposium 10

07:30-08:00

Mini Special Interest Group 2. The KASL Abdominal Ultrasound Study Group (K)

Chair: Moon Young Kim (Yonsei Univ. Wonju)

  • 07:30-07:50

  • Ultrasound Assessment of Liver Fibrosis: Comparison with 2D Shear Wave Elastography and FibroScan

    Jeong-Ju Yoo (Soonchunhyang Univ.)

  • 07:50-08:00

  • Discussion

08:00-09:00

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Hepatology

Chair: Chang Hyeong Lee (Daegu Catholic Univ.), Kang Mo Kim (Univ. of Ulsan)

  • 08:00-08:20

  • AI-Based Multi-Omics Integration for Precision Hepatology

    Junil Kim (Soongsil Univ.)

  • 08:20-08:40

  • Deep Learning and Digital Pathology in HCC: From Diagnosis to Prognosis

    Sunghak Lee (The Catholic Univ. of Korea)

  • 08:40-09:00

  • Multimodal AI and Large Language Models for Cancer Research

    Seng Chan You (Yonsei Univ.)

09:10-10:30

Special Interest Group 2
The KASL Alcohol-Related Problem Study Group

Chair: Jae Young Jang (Soonchunhyang Univ.), Won-Il Jeong (KAIST)

  • 09:10-09:30

  • Update on Clinical Trial Design and Endpoints in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

    Heechul Nam (The Catholic Univ. of Korea)

  • 09:30-09:50

  • Immune Dysfunction in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

    Wonhyo Seo (Ewha Womans Univ.)

  • 09:50-10:10

  • Gut–Liver Axis in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease: Mechanistic Insights and Translational Implications

    Ki-Tae Suk (Hallym Univ.)

  • 10:10-10:30

  • Discussion

  • 12:20-13:10

  • Luncheon Symposium 11

13:50-15:10

Special Interest Group 3
The KASL Steatotic Liver Disease Study Group
Novel Technologies in Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD) Research

Chair: Yong Kyun Cho (Sungkyunkwan Univ.) Jin-Woo Lee (Inha Univ.)

  • 13:50-14:10

  • MASH Pathogenesis through Single-Cell Analysis

    Murim Choi (Seoul National Univ.)

  • 14:10-14:30

  • Liver Organoid Model for Investigating SLD

    Yohan Kim (Sungkyunkwan Univ.)

  • 14:30-14:55

  • Advances in SLD Diagnosis Using 3D Multiparametric Imaging

    Chulhong Kim (POSTECH)

  • 14:55-15:10

  • Discussion

07:30-08:50

KAHBPS Symposium 1
Expanding Indications for Hepatic Resection in HCC: Challenging the Boundaries

Chair: Hee Chul Yu (Jeonbuk National Univ.), Jaehong Jeong (Soonchunhyang Univ.)

  • 07:30-07:50

  • Resection Beyond BCLC Guidelines: Surgical Outcomes in BCLC B or C

    Young Chul Yoon (The Catholic Univ. of Korea)

  • 07:50-08:10

  • Bridging with Locoregional Therapy: Role of TARE, TACE in Downstaging

    Dongho Hyun (Sungkyunkwan Univ.)

  • 08:10-08:30

  • From Unresectable to Resectable: How Immunotherapy Is Changing the Surgical Landscape

    Jeong-Ju Yoo (Soonchunhyang Univ.)

  • 08:30-08:50

  • Surgical Considerations after Neoadjuvant or Conversion Therapy

    Kiyoshi Hasegawa (The Univ. of Tokyo, Japan)

09:10-10:30

KAHBPS Symposium 2
How AI Is Transforming Future Liver Surgery

Chair: Sung Su Yun (Yeungnam Univ.), Dongho Choi (Hanyang Univ.)

  • 09:10-09:30

  • Why Surgeons Need AI: A Clinical Perspective

    Namkee Oh (Sungkyunkwan Univ.)

  • 09:30-09:50

  • Augmented Reality for Preoperative Planning and Intraoperative Visualization

    Maki Sugimoto (Teikyo Univ. Okinaga Research Institute, Japan)

  • 09:50-10:10

  • Real-Time AI Navigation in Minimally Invasive Surgery

    Daichi Kitaguchi (Univ. of Tsukuba, Japan)

  • 10:10-10:30

  • Intraoperative Assessment and AI-Assisted Coaching System in Hepatobiliary Surgery

    Xin Wang (The Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • 12:20-13:10

  • Luncheon Symposium 13

13:50-15:10

KAHBPS Symposium 3
How to Approach Benign Liver Tumors

Chair: Jin-Young Jang (Seoul National Univ.), Dong-Hwan Jung (Univ. of Ulsan)

  • 13:50-14:10

  • Advanced Imaging Modalities and Differential Diagnosis: A Radiologist’s Perspective

    Dong Ik Cha (Sungkyunkwan Univ.)

  • 14:10-14:30

  • Risk Stratification and Indication for Surgical Resection: A Surgeon’s Perspective

    Euisoo Han (The Catholic Univ. of Korea)

  • 14:30-14:50

  • Minimally Invasive Approaches in the Management of Benign Liver Tumors

    Kyeong Sik Kim (Hanyang Univ.)

  • 14:50-15:10

  • Surveillance after Surgery Outcomes and Recurrence: A Surgeon’s Perspective

    Min-Su Park (Kyung Hee Univ.)

07:30-08:00

KASL Branch Early Morning Workshop 5 [Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam] (*K)

Chair: Sung Jae Park (Inje Univ.)

  • 07:30-07:45

  • Unmet Needs in Current Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B

    Sang Yi Moon (Dong-A Univ.)

  • 07:45-08:00

  • Working Toward Functional Cure of Chronic Hepatitis B

    Jeong Heo (Pusan National Univ.)

07:30-08:00

KASL Branch Early Morning Workshop 6 [Gangwon] (*K)

  • 07:30-08:00

  • TBD

07:30-08:00

KASL Branch Early Morning Workshop 7 [Jeonbuk] (*K)

Chair: Eun Young Cho (Wonkwang Univ.)

  • 07:30-08:00

  • Risk Stratification for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in MASLD: Who Should Be Screened?

    Chang Hun Lee (Jeonbuk National Univ.)