Innovative First-Of-Its-Kind Blood Test Can Help Turn the Tide Against Liver Disease

Dr. Zobair Younossi, Chairman, Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, and Dr. Chuck Cooper, Chief Medical Officer, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers discuss non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a disease characterized by inflammation of the liver, and the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF™) Test, the only non-invasive blood test granted authorization by the FDA to assess the risk of disease progression in NASH patients. This test can potentially improve outcomes for millions of people with advanced liver disease.

Zobair M Younossi is the President of Inova Medicine as well as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, Falls Church, Virginia, USA. Dr. Younossi earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (Alpha Omega Alpha 1989) in Rochester, NY, USA. He then completed his residency in internal medicine with a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California, USA, while earning his master of public health degree with multiple honours from San Diego State University School of Public Health, San Diego, California, USA. He served as Staff Hepatologist and Senior Researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, before establishing the Canter for Liver Diseases at Inova Fairfax Hospital, which is now renowned for research related to outcomes research in liver disease and clinical, health services and translational research in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). He has served as Vice President and Chairman of Research for Inova Health System. He also serves as the President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation (2018-Present) and the Board of Inova Health System Foundation (2011-Present). He was appointed by Governors T Kaine and B McDonnell of Virginia to the Board of Directors of Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority (2008-2014). He also served Virginia Tobacco & Health Research Repository (VTHRR), Board of Directors, America Heart Association, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate (2010-2012) and Board of the American College of Gastroenterology Institute for Clinical Research & Education (2013-2019). Finally, he has served on multiple committees for American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastrointestinal Association and George Mason University as well as numerous committees at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and Inova Health System.

Over the past 3 decades, Dr.Younossi has pioneered research in NAFLD and has been a leader in the field of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), economic assessment and outcomes research in liver disease. He leads several international efforts related to NAFLD and PROs in liver disease though global collaborations, including the Chair of Global NASH Council and the Global Liver and NASH Registries as well as Serving as the President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chronic Liver Foundation. Dr.Younossi specializes in hepatology and gastroenterology, has authored over 600 articles, 3 books, 6 journal supplements, over 25 book chapters and over 1000 abstracts [resented at the international scientific meetings and has an H-index of 100. He is highly sought-after speaker and has provided over 470 faculty lectures in national and international meetings. Dr.Younossi has also served as the co-editor of Liver International, Associate Editor of J of Hepatology and on the editorial board of a number of important medical journals. He has represented the American Association of Liver Disease and American Gastroenterological Association at different congressional meetings.