LIVERAIM - Developing a European Screening Platform for Liver Disease

11.03.2024

LIVERAIM, a European research project that includes researchers from the University of Padua and its Teaching Hospital aims to improve the life and health of those suffering from liver diseases thanks to the start of the largest study carried out in this field.

Prof Paolo Angeli of the Department of Medicine at the University of Padua and Chief of the Unit of Internal Medicine and Hepatology at the University Teaching Hospital of Padua explains, “Liver cirrhosis and liver cancer are common and responsible for high morbidity, impaired quality of life, major costs for healthcare systems, and causing 300K deaths per year in Europe. Liver disease often progresses asymptomatically, until serious symptoms and complications occur. Unfortunately, at this advanced stage, treatment options are limited and liver transplantation is often the option. However, if detected early during the fibrosis stage, its progression can be prevented through effective interventions.”

Prof Salvatore Silvio Piano of the Department of Medicine at the University of Padua and local coordinator of the project comments, “The absence of an effective screening program represents a significant barrier to the early identification of these pathologies. While we have been successfully conducting liver disease screening in the Veneto region through the non-invasive test called Fibroscan, this method is only available at special clinics and centers.  If we want to promote a large-scale population screening, we must include general practitioners by providing them with tools such as a blood test to accurately identify individuals at risk of liver disease who may require in depth evaluations.”

With total funding of over 20M euros as part of the Innovation Health Initiative, the Joint Undertaking European LIVERAIM Project will see approximately 1,800,000 euros allocated to the University of Padua and its University Hospital.

LIVERAIM will design and validate a screening platform with biomarkers for population screening to use across Europe. The objective is to identify liver disease early and apply personalized therapeutic interventions.