The groundbreaking translational program of the congress will draw together experts from around the world, encompassing the most recent innovations in understanding the biology of liver diseases and presenting the latest developments in treatment options. The new EASL Governing Board has decided to maintain the format of the Congress which has proved to be extraordinarily successful in recent years. The concept of starting the meeting on Wednesday morning with educational joint workshops was very well received. We are happy to announce that for the first time, we will now have nine joint workshops with partner societies and research organisations. The postgraduate course following these workshops will address an extremely important clinical topic on how to manage acute critical conditions in Hepatology. Special highlights of the International Liver Congress™ 2010 will unquestionably be the J.P. Benhamou State-of-the-Art Lecture given by Professor G. Gores on Cholangiocellular Carcinoma and the basic State-of-the-Art lecture presented by J. Tschopp on innate immunity and the liver. Most importantly, almost 1000 original abstracts showing the best and newest research results will be presented during the meeting. The EASL Governing Board is pleased to announce that yet again 200 full travel bursaries will be granted to young investigators and all bursary recipients will receive one year’s free membership to EASL!

The International Liver Congress™ 2010 organized by a world-wide leading association of clinicians and scientists involved in the fight against liver diseases will provide an exceptional forum for you to refresh your knowledge base and explore innovations in liver disease biology and medicine, as well as a key opportunity to meet and interact with the leading scientists, physicians and surgeons in the field of liver disease. There is no doubt that your enthusiasm, your scientific achievements and your willingness to share the best and latest research results will make the Vienna meeting a huge success.

We look forward to welcoming you in Vienna to celebrate 45 years of achievements together!