FLIP · Fatty liver: Inhibition of Progression

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become one of the top concerns for the practising hepatogastroenterologist due to the obesity epidemic and its potential to progress to advanced liver disease which significantly impacts on overall and liver-related mortality. The aim of the FLIP (Fatty Liver: Inhibition of Progression) project is to understand and prevent the progression of liver disease in NAFLD. FLIP is a consortium of basic scientists and practising clinical hepatologists with an established track record and focus on research into the underlying mechanisms and management of patients with NAFLD. Therefore FLIP provides a unique opportunity to assemble the largest European cohort of patients with histologically diagnosed NAFLD with clinical and epidemiological data and with biobanks of DNA, frozen liver tissue and serum. These will be used in a wide range of collaborative inter-disciplinary research projects aimed at addressing key unanswered questions related to the mechanisms and consequences of liver injury in NAFLD and the development of novel preventive and therapeutic strategies. The main outcomes of FLIP will be new insights in the progression of liver disease in NAFLD in terms of initiating mechanisms and patients at risk, innovative diagnostic methods particularly adapted for large-scale screening and prognostic evaluation, improved implementation of lifestyle changes, collaboration with leading biotechnological or pharmaceutical companies in order to translate to the market diagnostic tests or newly identified molecular targets for pharmacological therapy. By disseminating the project’s results, FLIP will further help the European Community to suggest guidelines on the management of this emerging liver disease. The long-term goal is to lay the foundations for the future of NAFLD research in Europe by creating a Collaborative Research Network on NAFLD that will continue the work initiated by the FLIP consortium.