Hepatology Update March 28, 2008

This one day CME event first started in 1999. It has since become a popular way for local physicians to keep up to date on new developments in Hepatology. It was chaired by Dr. Jenny Heathcote from 1999-2004 and by Dr. David Wong from 2005-present. A copy of some presentations is available online as pdf files - just a click away. The schedule for 2008 was as follows:

  • Kyong-Mi Chang: Liver damage while trying to control virus: The immunology behind hepatitis.
  • Morris Sherman: The future of hepatitis C treatment: Antivirals that may not need immune modulation
  • Jenny Heathcote: Autoimmune liver disease: Blurred boundaries of overlap syndromes
  • David Wong & Oyedele Adeyi: Session 1 Cases
  • Simon Ling: Viral hepatitis from a young perspective.
  • David Wong: Treatment of hepatitis B: Options for Ontario
  • Maha Guindi: Fibrosis progression and regression: Lessons learned from treating liver disease
  • George Therapondos: The sticky problem of clots in the liver
  • Eberhard Renner: When is the right time to think transplant for the patient with liver disease

Sheila Sherlock Research Day March 27, 2008

In 1986, Dame Sheila Sherlock came to Toronto to visit one of her former trainees, Dr. Jenny Heathcote. To celebrate the occasion, Toronto trainees were encouraged to present updates on their research projects. The Sheila Sherlock Research Day has been an annual celebration of local liver research since 1986. It is chaired by Dr. Les Lilly. Dr. Lilly and a visiting professor award prizes to the two outstanding presenters each year. For 2008, the visiting professor was Dr. Kyong-Mi Chang from the University of Pennsylvania. The winning presentations were:

  • Gideon Hirschfield (Supervisor: K Siminovitch): CTLA-4/ICOS Gene Variants and Haplotypes are Both Associated with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Canadian Population
  • Paul James (Supervisor: David Wong): Optimizing Hepatitis C Therapy in HIV/HCV Co-Infected Patients: Analysis of HCV Viral Kinetics on Treatment

Other presentations from 2009

  • Margaret Matusik (Supervisor: Johane Allard): Coffee Consumption in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
  • Bianca Arendt (Supervisor: Johane Allard): HIV Positive Men with Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) have Altered Hepatic Fatty Acid Composition
  • Hemant Shah (Supervisor: Samir Grover): Endoscopic Management of Biliary Complications after Living Donor Liver Transplantation
  • Khalid Alswat (Supervisor: Jenny Heathcote): Prevalence and Characteristics of Sclerosing Cholangitis with Elevated Serum IgG-4 Levels
  • Paul James (Supervisor: Florence Wong): Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent Shunt (TIPS) as a Treatment for Cirrhosis and Refractory Ascites: The Experience from a Single Centre
  • S. Bolano (Supervisor: Florence Wong): Prevalence and Long Term Outcome of Portal Vein Thrombosis in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis
  • Aviva Leber (Supervisor: Morris Sherman): Evaluation of the Radiological Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma for Lesions 1-2 cm in Diameter
  • Wael Soliman (Supervisor: Jenny Heathcote): The Sustained Virological Response (SVR) and Its Effect on Insulin Resistance Status in Insulin Resistant Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC)
  • S. Missiha (Supervisor: Jenny Heathcote): Association between BMI and Hepatitis C in the United States
  • N. Ravindran (Supervisor: Jenny Heathcote): BMI and Weights are not Predictors of Response to Antiviral Treatment in Chronic Hepatitis C (HCV) Infection at 4 weeks
  • Martin Alphonse (Supervisor: Eberhard Renner): Dexamethasone (DEX) Inhibits Type-1 Interferon Receptor (IFNaR1) Expression
  • Limin Chen (Supervisor: Ian McGilvray): Validation of a Gene Signature Predicting Response to Treatment in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infections
  • Ivan Borozan (Supervisor: Ian McGilvray): Applying Meta-Analysis to Microarrays: Identification of a Robust Gene Signature for Chronic HCV
  • K. Gurram (Supervisor: Eberhard Renner): Angiotensin-Blocking Agents Do Not Improve Fibrosis Progression in Recurrent Hepatitis C after Liver Transplantation
  • W. Leung (Supervisor: Jenny Heathcote): Neurocognitive Dysfunction and Health-related Quality of Life in Non-cirrhotic Chronic Hepatitis B
  • Lay Lay Win (Supervisor: David Wong): An Electronic Charting System Adapted for the Toronto Western Liver Clinic
  • Rupert Abdalian (Supervisor: Maha Guindi): Adequacy of Liver Biopsies: Variability across Different Methods of Specimen Acquisition
  • P. Ryan (Supervisor: Maha Guindi): Prevalence of Focal Vascular Injury in Liver Specimens Resected for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
  • Maha Guindi: Can Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Occur in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection in the Absence of Cirrhosis?

Visiting Professors

  • 2008 Kyong-Mi Chang
  • 2007 Anna Mae Diehl
  • 2006 Chris Day
  • 2005 Anna Lok
  • 2004 Elwyn Elias
  • 2003 Andreas Blei
  • 2002 N.M. Bass
  • 2001 David Adams
  • 2000 Bruce Bacon
  • 1999 Thomas Boyer
  • 1998 T. Jake Liang
  • 1997 Michel Huet
  • 1996 Teresa Wright
  • 1995 Irwin Arias
  • 1994 M. James Phillips
  • 1993 Frank Chisari
  • 1992 Bruce Scharschmidt
  • 1991 John Gollan
  • 1990 David Van Thiel
  • 1989 Anthony Tavill
  • 1988 Howard Thomas
  • 1987 E.A. Jones
  • 1986 Dame Sheila Sherlock

Acknowledgements

These two events were made possible through a generous education grant from Axcan Pharma. Axcan was the sole sponsor from 1986 to 2007. Sponsorships for subsequent years (listed alphabetically):
  • 1986-2007 Axcan
  • 2008 Axcan, Gilead