Surfing the MASH Tsunami

Send us Fan Mail The final conversation of Episode 16 explores possible possible pathways and treatment strategies for NASH therapy in a future world with multiple classes of agents.   In different ways, Mazen Noureddin and each Surfer discuss how cost-effective patient treatment might actually provide the right medicine for the right patient all along the therapeutic path.  What makes NASH a litt...

Send us Fan Mail Mazen Noureddin and Stephen Harrison discuss future directions cost-effectiveness research in and outside the U.S. might take, while the Surfers consider the implications. In response to questions from Roger Green and Stephen Harrison, this conversation starts by exploring where cost-effectiveness research might head next. Louise Campbell provides context from other recent studies...

Send us Fan Mail Mazen Noureddin describes how he became engaged in studying the cost-effectiveness of widespread NASH screening for diabetics in the US, and what he has found, while the Surfers comment on the value of this pivotal work. After Mazen discusses how he became engaged in studying cost effectiveness in screening diabetes patients for  NASH, he offers a 30,000-foot view of his findings...

Send us Fan Mail Mazen Noureddin joins the Surfers to discuss his work determining cost effectiveness of Non-Invasive Testing in Type 2 diabetics and the broader population. The discussion shifts to considering broader treatment issues.  Dr. Noureddin starts the discussion by providing a history of cost-effectiveness research in NASH and NAFLD. At a population level, biopsy turns out never to be c...

Send us Fan Mail Surfing the NASH Tsunami closes the book on NASH-TAG 2021 by considering highlights and major themes of the conference. The conversation focuses on the dramatic increase in disease knowledge and drug development over the past year and highlights some specific papers and ideas. A thoughtful, energetic conclusion to a meeting that left much to think about and many reasons to be exci...

Send us Fan Mail Naim Alkhouri and Jörn Schattenberg join Roger and Donna to review the closing session of NASH-TAG 2021, a potpourri of basic science and review of promising drugs earlier in development. The Saturday afternoon closing session of NASH-TAG 2021 spends half its time discussing basic science issues and the other half with BioPharma company drug developers discussing their promising d...

Send us Fan Mail NASH-TAG Co-director Michael Charlton and Ian Rowe join Roger, Louise and Donna to review the morning that Michael himself identified as one of two highlight sessions of NASH-TAG 2021. The Saturday morning session of NASH-TAG 2021 envisions a world of clinical trials without biopsies, considers implications of enrolling co-morbid and other challenging patients, ands winds up with...

Send us Fan Mail Jörn Schattenberg and Naim Alkhouri join the Surfers (including NASH-TAG co-director Stephen Harrison) to review NASH-TAG session to with its focus on innovative trial design and improving histological analyses. The Friday afternoon session of NASH-TAG 2021 highlights innovation in clinical trial design and histologic analysis. Before NASH-TAG starts its Day Two, join SurfingNASH...

Send us Fan Mail Manal Abdelmalek and Ian Rowe join Roger, Louise and Donna to review the morning that Vlad Ratziu and Michael Charlton both identified as the highlight session of NASH-TAG 2021.  The Friday morning session of NASH-TAG 2021 highlights advancing research for five major NASH drugs in development, explores the question why drug trials fail and wraps up with a rapid-fire session on pro...

Send us Fan Mail NASH-TAG Co-directors Vlad Ratziu and Michael Charlton talk with Roger Green about the upcoming conference, after which Roger discusses the SurfingNASH coverage plan for NASH-TAG. If you listen to SurfingNASH, you already know exactly how Stephen Harrison feels about NASH-TAG and what lights him up about this year's agenda. Now, listen as two other co-directors, Vlad Ratziu a...

Send us Fan Mail Donna Cryer joins the Surfers to consider some of the public health issues and implications surrounding treatment of Early Fatty Liver disease and related metabolic diseases.  EXTRA: Louise Campbell discusses her public health-driven motivation to form Tawazun Health. This episode is sponsored by Echosens. Echosens is partnering with Chronwell and ModifyHealth to offer LIVErHEALTH...

Send us Fan Mail Donna Cryer and Roger Green lead a conversation of why identity matters for patients trying to resolve fatty liver disease without medication, while Stephen Harrison and Louise Campbell discuss some of their methods for doing so. This episode is sponsored by Echosens. Echosens is partnering with Chronwell and ModifyHealth to offer LIVErHEALTHY, an integrated program of non-invasiv...

Send us Fan Mail Executives from Echosens, Chronwell and ModifyHealth join to introduce LIVErHEALTHY, their integrated program for early Fatty Liver disease that integrates non-invasive monitoring, technology-supported behavior support, nutritional counseling and delivery of medically-tailored meals. This episode is sponsored by Echosens. to introduce LIVErHEALTHY. Echosens is partnering with Chro...

Send us Fan Mail Donna Cryer joins the Surfers to discuss the importance of identity in lifestyle modification, after which our sponsors from Echosens present LIVErHEALTHY, a program that combines non-invasive testing, technology-enabled behavior support and a food and nutrition element.  Over the past two weeks, we have discussed the idea that diagnostic development in Fatty Liver Disease are pro...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation integrates two significant side conversations during the review of the NASH-TAG 2021 agenda, one about creativity and intellectual ferment and the other about what we can learn from COVID-19 about how to motivate patients. While reviewing the NASH-TAG 2021 agenda, the group digressed several times. This conversation incorporates the two most interesting. In the f...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Harrison previews Day Two of NASH-TAG while Ian Rowe, Louise Campbell, and Roger Green the issues that each of them anticipates most eagerly. Stephen Harrison previews the second-day agenda for NASH-TAG 2021, with a diverse set of innovative and challenging topics. Louise Campbell, Ian Rowe, and Roger Green each identify a different discussion they will be most excited to...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Harrison discusses the history of NASH-TAG and what makes it special while previewing Day One of the 2021 meeting. In this conversation, Stephen Harrison and Roger Green share their views of what makes NASH-TAG a special event, after which Stephen reviews the Day One agenda, focusing on elements he considers particularly exciting. Louise Campbell and Ian Rowe share what th...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Harrison previews NASH-TAG 2021, the pre-eminent NASH drug development meeting, which will take place from March 10-12. This year marks the 5th annual NASH-TAG, a meeting focused solely on NASH drug and diagnostics development. The NASH-TAG format calls for "deep dives" into key issues and combines innovative presentation formats with debates on pivotal issues. S...

Send us Fan Mail The panelists consider the barriers to bringing NASH into central consciousness in diabetes therapy and some keys to success. Louise Campbell and Roger Green discuss issues and challenges in educating diabetic patients about NAFLD and NASH. Louise discusses how the rising amount of mortality tied to liver cancer should create a new urgency to broaden focus about the role the liver...

Send us Fan Mail Wayne Eskridge describes some of the opportunities and concerns that affect diabetic patients might experience as they learn about NASH and the liver issues related to diabetes. Patient, patient advocate and Fatty Liver Foundation Wayne Eskridge considers ways that diabetic patients might respond to the joint ideas that they have fatty liver issues and that some diabetes drugs mig...

Send us Fan Mail Jörn Schattenberg reviews modes of action for GLP-1 agonists and SGLT-2 inhibitors and discusses the data that exist in NAFLD and NASH. The group considers scientific issues surrounding the newer diabetes drugs. First, Jörn Schattenberg presented mode-of-action and research data on the two classes of drugs. After this, Wayne Eskridge asked questions from the patient perspective, L...

Send us Fan Mail Jörn Schattenberg and Fatty Liver Foundation President Wayne Eskridge join Louise and Roger to consider the current and future roles that GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide and SGLT-2 inhibitors like Jardiance in treating NASH patients. Over the next couple of years, we are likely to see improvements in our ability to diagnose and track NASH patients but no new medicines to...

Send us Fan Mail Three experience NASH trial site execs identify at least 11 specific things to consider when designing your trial protocols. Stephen Harrison challenges colleagues Naim Alkhouri and Rashmee Patil to identify a "Top Ten" of criteria to consider/pressure test in designing protocols...and they come up with at least 11! In the end, Naim Alkhouri advocates for sponsors talkin...

Send us Fan Mail The panel explores three less obvious ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the ability to recruit the right patients into clinical trials. This week, SurfingNASH discusses why recruiting and maintaining the right patients for NASH clinical trials will require focus, discipline, and perhaps a new way of thinking about trial recruitment.  When we think of how COVID-19 has re...

Send us Fan Mail Naim Alkhouri and Dr. Rashmee Patil of the South Texas Research Institute join the Surfers to discuss misconceptions about the ease of recruiting and qualifying patients for NASH clinical trials. Exciting Phase 2b results over the last few months will increase demand for patients to include in NASH clinical trials. So will the recent FDA white paper and webcast, which focused on l...