Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica (FCRB) was created to manage and promote the research activities of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (HCB), one of the best hospitals in Spain, as can be seen in its statutes. Both institutions are very active in scientific research. The facts and figures of the institutions guarantee its excellence. Likewise, FCRB has a strong track record working in European projects and has a dedicated European Projects Office (OPE) and the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office (KTT). The OPE managed 34 projects in FP5 (1 as coordinators), 55 projects in FP6 (11 as coordinators), 130 projects in FP7 (29 as coordinators) and is currently managing over eighty projects in H2020 (10 as coordinators).

FCRB’s research group was created more than 30 years ago in the setting of the Liver Unit in Hospital Clinic in Barcelona. It is a multidisciplinary group working in the research on the pathogenesis and treatment of chronic liver diseases and the associated complications. The group works both in clinical and experimental research and is one of the world leaders in this field. The leadership of the group in the research in this field and it is evident with the publication of several original articles with a high impact factor (h-index of 90). The group has expertise in the clinical management of patients with cirrhosis and has published studies that have become state of the art practice in the field of cirrhosis. Moreover, the members of the group have also published the several specific books in this field, and several book chapters in some of the best books in Hepatology.  Besides these publications, some members of the group have been involved in the elaboration of national and international Clinical Guidelines, which have changed the course of treatment.  The research covers the whole spectrum of disease diagnosis and progression through to end stage liver disease, and this particular project falls at the start of this spectrum in identifying those patients at risk.

Main contact: Pere Ginès, pgines@clinic.cat

Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (The Greater Paris University Hospital) is the biggest teaching hospital in Europe, federating 39 different hospitals and groups of hospitals mainly located in Paris and its suburban area. It is also the largest employer in the Paris region with more than 90,000 people working for this public institution representing more than 150 different jobs. With 23 550 doctors, including more than 3 000 professors and more than 6 000 residents and medical students, AP-HP's staff cover all the major medical specialties.

As public health institution, AP-HP pursues 3 main missions: healthcare delivery, medical and paramedical teaching and biomedical and clinical research. AP-HP' teams develop high quality research activities, including European and International Research projects. In particular, AP-HP is involved and/or co-ordinates more than 40 European research projects supported by the Research and Technological Development Research Program from the European Union.

Within AP-HP, the Department of Hepatology of Beaujon hospital is an internationally recognized centre of Excellence in liver diseases and a leading transplant centre performing over 110 liver transplantations per year. Over the last 30 years, the department has played a major role in innovation in different fields of Hepatology, including the introduction of beta-blockers for treating portal hypertension (Didier Lebrec), description of a novel entity (ACLF) in patients with decompensated cirrhosis (Richard Moreau), novel antivirals in viral hepatitis (Patrick Marcellin), characterization of vascular liver diseases (Dominique Valla), and auxiliary liver transplantation (François Durand).

Main contact: Laurent Castera, laurent.castera@aphp.fr

Saarland University (USAAR) is a state university in Southwest Germany near to France and Luxembourg with a strong research focus with a wide spectrum of disciplines in research and education, including medicine, natural sciences, engineering, law, economics, and humanities.  Today, 17,000 students are registered, 19% of whom are international students. Saarland University’s institutional strategy is defined by three major areas of research and teaching: “Computer Sciences”, “NanoBioMed”, and “European Studies”. The promotion of European unity and cross-border cooperation are issues of constitutional status, which are firmly embedded in politics and society and reflected by the application as European University (EURCrossBorderAlliance).. USAAR is very active in national and international research collaborations in different funding instruments and settings. Its Department for Research Management and Transfer fully supports USAAR's scientists in acquiring and administering their research projects and in translating their research results into business. The Department of Medicine II at Saarland University Medical Centre covers clinics, research and teaching in Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases with a strong focus on the care of patients with chronic liver diseases, bridging basic research and clinical applications. The laboratory covers the full range from experimental studies to randomised controlled trials and health care research. The LiverScreen project combines all three major USAAR research areas, i.e. biomedicine, bioinformatics, and European studies; hence it represents a perfect fit for the further development as European university.

Main contact: Frank Lammert;: Frank.Lammert@uks.eu

The Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova (AOP) is a recognized referral centre on a regional and national level, and provides high complexity health assistance at high technological level. The AOP is integrated with the Università degli Studi di Padova (University of Padua, UNIPD) for teaching and research activities, as AOP is the referral centre in the training of health professionals of the Medicine and Surgical School of the UNIPD. AOP plays an important role in scholarly and scientific research at both European and world level. AOP fosters and sustains an environment that facilitates the highest quality scholarship and research, providing leadership in setting research goals in collaboration with the University of Padua (UNIPD), and ensuring that the research infrastructure is robust and responsive to the expanding and ever-changing needs of researchers. Currently, the Unit “Progetti e Ricerca Clinica” offers a series of services to the clinical researchers involved in or applying for EU funded projects.

Within the AOP, the Clinica Medica 5 Unit is a Unit involved in the management of patients with liver disease and is the Regional Referral Centre for Liver Diseases. The Unit consists of a 54 bed ward for hospitalized patients, 4 bed for day hospital and an outpatients clinic that is primarily involved in the management of patients with liver cirrhosis, selection of liver transplant candidates and management of liver transplant recipients.

In the last 30 years the Unit has been involved in Clinical and Experimental research in the field of complications of cirrhosis namely ascites, hepatorenal syndrome, gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy and bacterial infections. Furthermore, during the last 15 years, a new model of care has been developed for patients with cirrhosis within this Unit, based on a multidisciplinary cooperation.

Main contact: Paolo Angeli, pangeli@unipd.it

Institut Català de la Salut, funded by the Ministry of Health of the Catalan Government, is the largest public corporation providing healthcare in Catalonia. The ICS manages 8 tertiary referral hospitals and 288 primary care centers in Catalonia. One of the 8 referral hospitals is the ICS – Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (ICS-HUVH), which is the largest hospital complex in Catalonia (Spain) and one of the most important ones in Spain. Founded in 1955, it is currently the reference hospital, with more than 1,300 beds and 7,000 employees. It provides healthcare services from birth to old age since it is represented by three specialist hospitals: the General Hospital, the Maternity and Children's Hospital and the Trauma, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. Another reference hospital is the ICS – Hospital Universitari Germans Trials i Pujol (ICS-HUGTP), a 640-bed modern tertiary university teaching hospital based in Badalona. It serves a local population of more than 400,000 and is the tertiary reference Hospital for 900,000 people. It provides local acute services and key regional specialties with high-technology facilities including a comprehensive cancer program and tertiary cardiovascular care. Finally, the Foundation University Institute for Primary Health Care Research Jordi Gol i Gurina (ICS – IDIAPJGol), is a center of reference in health research and promotion at the first level of care that aims to promote and develop innovation, clinical research, epidemiology and give services in the field of primary care. It also offers training to generate knowledge, disseminate results and transfer them to clinical practice to contribute efficiently to the health system and improve societal health.

Main contact: Salvador Augustin, saugustin@vhebron.net

Odense Universitetshospital (Odense University Hospital, OUH) is a 1,200 bed teaching hospital with 10,000 employees and a medical school associated with University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The close collaboration between the Department of Clinical Research, SDU, and OUH, provides a tightly integrated environment for clinical research. Centre for Liver Research (CLR) undertakes the clinical studies with recruitment and state-of-the-art clinical investigations, including imaging and liver biopsies, at our screening unit within Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at OUH. Odense University Hospital is the largest hospital in Denmark and referral centre for Southern Denmark with a subpopulation of 1.5 million people.

Both the Department of Gastroenterology Hepatology and OUH in general have a solid research platform and infrastructure for large-scale clinical studies: state-of-the-art technology, trained key personnel and a large patient flow. At CLR, we hold access to a secure database of randomly selected unique social security numbers for 20,000 inhabitants aged 40-75 in six municipalities on Funen. This database allows us to send out batches of online letter invitations to people's inbox, that in Denmark is linked to every social security number. The response rate for invitations to receive a liver screening so far exceed 30%. Consequently, we can recruit from an estimated 6,000 interested, randomly selected participants in the target general population.

Main contact: Aleksander Krag, Aleksander.Krag@rsyd.dk

The NIHR is the National Institute for Health Research in England and supports leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public. Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) strengthens Nottingham’s position as a leading city for research and innovation, bringing together world-leading scientists in a partnership hosted by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust with the University of Nottingham. Nottingham BRC’s main focus is on identifying and taking rapid advantage of new developments in the basic sciences and translating these into clinical practice.

In particular, the research is focused in biomarkers of liver fibrosis and their application to clinical practice. This project provides an opportunity to collaborate with European partners and build on the novel work they have done in the UK on improving the detection of liver fibrosis. We produced a systematic review highlighting the evidence for community detection of liver disease ( Harris et al Lancet GH ), led initial proof of concept studies ( Harman et al BMJ open and Harman et al APT) showing that community detection  of liver disease is feasible and have produced an economic evaluation showing cost effectiveness (Tanajewski Let al BMJ open 2017). Our work has been recognised in the UK by the Lancet commission, NICE, Royal college of General practitioners, NHS innovation (Prize winners in 2013 and Fellowship awarded) and the Kings Fund. The NIHR BRC and University of Nottingham are research organisations and there is a close link between clinical service and research. In addition, implementation and changing clinical practice are a major focus of showing impact to funders of these organisations.

Main contact: Neil Guha, neil.guha@nottingham.ac.uk

Erasmus Medical Centre (ErasmusMC) in Rotterdam affiliated with Erasmus University and home to its faculty of medicine, is the largest University Medical Centres in Europe. The hospital is the largest of the eight university medical centres in the Netherlands, both in terms of turnover and number of beds. The research of the Erasmus MC for Life Sciences & Health ranks among the international top and is committed to a healthy population and excellent care through research and education. The department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology includes the Liver Unit, which integrates clinical and basic research and the main interests of our department are, in particular, viral hepatitis, cholestatic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. With regard to the latter, we are interested in epidemiology, risk factors for the development and prevention. Therefore we follow a group of ‘healthy people aged >50 years’ in a quarter of the city of Rotterdam (project ERGO or the Rotterdam Study). The department of Public Health aims to conduct eminent research and education with a discernable impact on population health at the local, national, and international level.

Main contact: Robert de Knegt, r.deknegt@erasmusmc.nl

University Medical Centre Mainz (UMCM) is a leading academic centre in the field of hepatology and focused on the development of non-invasive biomarkers in metabolic liver disease. The centre and department are among the most active study centres worldwide conducting phase 2 and 3 trials in the indication hepatic fibrosis and NAFLD.

Main contact: Jörn M. Schattenberg, Joern.Schattenberg@unimedizin-mainz.de

CRES, standing for Centre for Research in Health and Economics, is a research centre of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). It was officially cofounded by Professors Guillem López-Casasnovas and Vicente Ortún Rubio in 1996. Its mission is to be a reference research centre in Spain and Europe in health economics. CRES aims at offering response, from the academics, to our health care systems' most important challenges.

CRES has developed its research and training activity with the support of competitive funding (International, European or national wide) and by means of reaching several agreements with a diversity of institutions..

Following the research track of CRES, in terms of healthcare policy and Health Systems Strengthening, in ongoing European projects in the liver Area such as the LiverHope, the LiverScreen project, the aim of a shift of paradigm in hepatology towards a primary care-centred is of utmost interest for the research centre. A thorough evaluation of both the cost-effectiveness and budget impact is necessary, alongside a programme evaluation of the actual implementation of such a strategy.

Main contact: Miquel Serra-Burriel, miquel.serrab@upf.edu

The European Liver Patients Association (ELPA) emerged from a desire amongst European liver patient groups to share their experiences of the often very different approaches adopted in different countries. In June 2004, 13 patient groups from 10 European and Mediterranean Basin countries met to create the association. ELPA was formally launched in Paris on April 14th 2005 during the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and now has 25 members from 22 countries and represents around 80,000 liver patients, their families and volunteers. Our aim is to promote the interests of people with liver disease and in particular to highlight the size of the problem; to promote awareness and prevention; to address the low profile of liver disease as compared to other areas of medicine such as heart disease; to share experience of successful initiatives; to work with professional bodies such as EASL and with the EU to ensure that treatment and care are harmonised across Europe to the highest standards.

ELPA has two strategic focuses: member empowerment and policy work. At the level of member empowerment we provide in-depth knowledge about leadership and management of national non-government organization (NGO), we encourage networking about members to transfer the examples of good practice and we help national NGOs to reach their goals with different programs: ELPA University, ELPA@home, Viral Hepatitis and Your Body, Advisory Board Meetings, etc.

At the level of policy work, in 2007, ELPA members have written and signed a Written Declaration on Hepatitis C that was base for crafting the WHO resolution on viral hepatitis in 2010 (WHO 63.18). ELPA’s first research project was ground base for launching Manifesto on policy measures against choric liver disease 2014-2019 (WHO resolution WHA 67.6). In 2015 ELPA launched paper on economic evaluation of the fight against hepatitis with comparison of France and Romania in document Hepatitis B and C: An action plan to save lives in Europe. In 2016, after the meeting with EU Commissioner Andriukaitis on the topic of hepatitis C and ASH, we also participated in preparation of WHO Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021. We participated in creating the WHO Euro Strategy Plan and we executed first patient led hepatitis B and C study. In 2017 we continued with our policy work and we also co-chair ACHIEVE coalition that connects different stakeholders in the field of hepatitis elimination work.

Main contact: Marko Korenjak, marko.korenjak@elpa.eu

EASL is a major medical European Association with international influence dedicated to the liver and liver disease. They have over 4,000 members from all over the world and provide an annual platform, The International Liver Congress™, for 11,000 liver experts to meet and discuss latest scientific research.

EASL has given rise to many international clinical trials and research collaborations to the benefit of patients all over the world. They have been working on EU advocacy and policy since 2009. EASL`s advocacy efforts have concentrated on raising awareness about liver disease in Europe, how to prevent and treat it and the role that EASL can play in doing this.

Their mission is to be the “Home of Hepatology” so that all who are involved with liver disease can realize their full potential to cure and prevent it. EASL

• Promotes research in the science of liver disease (Hepatology)
• Provides state-of-the-art education for physicians and scientists
• Fosters public awareness of liver diseases and their management
• Acts as an advisor to European Health authorities
• Facilitates scientific exchanges and catalyses European multi-centre-controlled trials

Supports young investigators to ensure that the liver remains at the forefront of research

Main contact: Karen Mazzoli, karen.mazzoli@easloffice.eu

Founded in 2003, Echosens is a French innovative high-technology company providing non-invasive medical devices dedicated solely to the assessment of patients with various types of chronic liver diseases, including diseases caused by virus, such as HBV and HCV, and diseases caused by alcohol abuse or obesity, such as AFLD, NAFLD, NASH and ASH. Globally implanted, in addition to its headquarter in Paris, the company has 6 subsidiaries: 2 in Europe (Germany and Spain), 1 in Lebanon, 2 in China (Hong Kong and Shenzhen) and 1 in the USA (Waltham, MA) and a distribution network covering more than 80 countries. Echosens counts about 250 employees.

Echosens’ main products consists in a range of non-invasive medical devices sold under the brand name “FibroScan” using Echosens proprietary Vibration Controlled Transient Elastography (VCTE) technology to generate precise quantitative measurements of key liver parameters: liver stiffness measurement (LSM) to quantify the liver fibrosis and Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) to quantify the liver steatosis. VCTE technology was initially developed in 1999 and is the subject of several of Echosens patent families that cover the key markets in which the FibroScan devices are sold, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Echosens VCTE technology has been evaluated, reported on or cited in more than 2,150 peer-reviewed clinical publications. It has also been mentioned or recommended in the guidelines of prominent health and clinical organizations worldwide, including the World Health Organization, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and European Association for the Study of Liver.

Echosens also offers a family of blood test analysing tools under the brand name “FibroMeter” that focus on assessing chronic liver diseases. The FibroMeter blood test analyzing tools use a proprietary cloud-based calculator to analyse blood test data from blood sample analyses undertaken at medical laboratories. FibroMeter performs calculations on the data to generate detailed reports that assess chronic liver diseases and support physicians in their diagnoses. This tool can be used either independent of, or in combination with, the FibroScan devices.

In addition, Echosens offer a suite of data management software solutions under the brand name “FibroView” that enables FibroScan device end-users to optimise and improve their diagnosis and clinical processes. The FibroView software solutions offer both comprehensive and customized reports from FibroScan exams, as well as the ability to connect FibroScan devices to hospital information systems.

Main contact: Céline Fournier, celine.fournier@echosens.com

Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) is located at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and is made up of research groups lead by professionals from the Mar Health Park (which includes the clinical centres Hospital del Mar and Hospital de l´Esperança), most of whom are associates of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). At IMIM there are around 700 professionals, of which 119 are PIs distributed in sixty research groups integrated into the five multidisciplinary programmes framing research activities within IMIM:  Cancer, Epidemiology and Public Health, Cardiovascular and Inflammatory processes, Biomedical Informatics and Neurosciences.

Main contact: Montserrat García Retortillo, MGarciaRetortillo@parcdesalutmar.cat

University College London (UCL) is ranked 10th in the 2019 QS World University Rankings and was rated the top university in the UK for research strength in the most recent Research Excellence Framework. The Institute for Liver Digestive Health (ILDH) at UCL (UCL-ILDH) concentrates on whole Hepatology, HPB medicine and surgery and Liver Transplantation at UCL. UCL-ILDH has an outstanding tradition of clinical and academic hepatology emanating from the legacy of Prof Sheila Sherlock: it combines ~60 clinical and non-clinical investigators at different stages of academic development. Research activities span from very basic cellular and molecular biology to translational projects in Gastroenterology, HPB and Hepatology. All the research activities are supported by the excellent Liver and GI pathology service. Most of the activities of the UCL-ILDH are located at the Royal Free Hospital.

Main contact: Emmanouil Tsochatzis, e.tsochatzis@ucl.ac.uk

University of Zagreb School of Medicine (UZSM) is the oldest educational institution for a medical training and research in the South East Europe founded in 1917 as a separate legal entity within the University of Zagreb. It has a long tradition in education of medical doctors, as well as in research and clinical practice. UZSM is internationally recognized academic institution devoted to excellence in education, scientific research and transfer of knowledge in the area of biomedicine and health care. UZSM participated in six FP5 projects, seven FP6 and seven FP7 (one collaborative and two REGPOT as coordinator), currently participates in five HORIZON 2020 projects (one as coordinator).

UZSM has two scientific centres of excellence: Centre of Excellence for Reproductive and Regenerative Medicine and Centre of Excellence of Fundamental, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience. The status of the Scientific Centres of Excellence is awarded for five years, with the possibility of extension, is funded from the budget of Republic of Croatia through the MSE, the EU structural funds through the MSE and other national and international funds.

UZSM is the largest medical academic institution in Croatia connecting preclinical, clinical and public health education and research. It has 3 specialized components: (1) Croatian Institute for Brain Research, being an infrastructural and organizational center of Croatian neuroscience and (2) School of Public Health founded 90 years ago by the first president of World Health Organisation, Andrija Stampar as a center for public health activities in Croatia and (3) Centre for Translational and Clinical Research (CTCR). UZSM laboratories are organized and equipped to provide research and diagnostics in preclinical animal and clinical research. This allows coordinated research and educational activities having preclinical background, developed for clinical applications and serving public health interventions.

Main contact: Ivica Grgurevic, ivica.grgurevic@zg.htnet.hr

The Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC) was established in 2005 and is the Spanish national supercomputing facility and a hosting member of the PRACE distributed supercomputing infrastructure. The Centre houses MareNostrum-IV, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision, and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof and currently has over 450 staff from 44 countries.The centre has been extremely active in the EC Framework Programmes and has participated in over 100 projects funded by it. BSC is a founding member of HiPEAC, the ETP4HPC and other international forums.

The Computer Applications in Science and Engineering (CASE) it is a multidisciplinary research department that aims to identify engage and support user communities in science and engineering that are potential users of HPC, boosted by its own research lines in High Performance Computational Mechanics. CASE serves as a bridge between e-Science and advanced computer science technologies, developing new computational strategies to simulate complex problems specifically adapted to run efficiently on modern supercomputers. The research areas covered are truly multidisciplinary, requiring a deep level of expertise in many fields and collaborations with experts in other areas, both from Spanish and foreign institutions. The research lines include Physical and Numerical Modelling, Numerical Solution Algorithms, Parallelization in Distributed and Shared memory machines, Numerical Kernels and Optimization, Data Analytics and Visualization, and Software engineering and High Performance Computing in Computational Medicine. In particular, this last line of research (aligned with two European Centres of Excellence) has been quite successful in the simulation of human organs through the numerical solution of mathematical models, and is looking at the inclusion of data-based (statistical and machine learning) models to complement their research.

Main contact: Fernando Cucchietti, fernando.cucchietti@bsc.es

GENESIS Biomed is a consultancy firm in the biomedical healthcare sector specialized in providing consulting services to spin-off and start-up companies, entrepreneurs and research centres.  Based on our expertise we help entrepreneurs and researchers to shape their business plan and we support them in the private fundraising process. Genesis Biomed has raised more than 40 M€ in the last 4 years. Their expertise domains are biopharmaceutical, biotechnological, medical devices, in vitro diagnostic, nutraceutical and cosmetic. Genesis Biomed’s main activities/services consist of the preparation of business plans, market research, positioning analysis, regulatory strategic roadmaps, product development plans, IP strategy, business development activities, business model definition, fundraising strategy, financial plans and market access activities.

Main contact: Josep Lluís Falcó, jlfalco@genesis-biomed.com

Innovation Acta is focused on supporting the planning and execution of EU funding research programs.

Inn Acta assists private and public organizations, individual researchers and SMEs to obtain grants in multi-national collaboration projects or other funding opportunities.

It is an integral part of our mission is to support Clients in the preparation of project applications.

In this process INN ACTA’s grant Managers start with the identification of an appropriate financing strategy through the establishment of a successful consortia, followed by supporting the drafting of the funding proposal leading then to the formal submission of the project, which we will take care of. Upon approval of project we contribute in the management, communication, as well dissemination strategy of the project and further assist the consortium in all administrative aspects.

Main contact: Paola Cesaroni, cesaroni@innovationacta.eu

With more than 27,000 students, the University of Zurich is Switzerland's largest university. Founded in the year 1833, UZH was Europe's first university to be established by a democratic political system. Made up of seven faculties covering some 100 different subject areas, the University offers a wide variety of Bachelor's, Master's and PhD programs. The academic excellence of the University of Zurich brings benefits to both the public and the private sectors not only in the Canton of Zurich, but throughout Switzerland as well as globally. Knowledge is shared in a variety of ways: in addition to granting the general public access to its museums, collections and many of its libraries, the University makes findings from cutting-edge research available to the public in accessible and engaging lecture series, panel discussions and events. Moreover, the high quality of the University’s medical institutions translates into first-rate health care for the population of Switzerland. The largest institute at the University of Zurich, with around 280 employees, is the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI), which is also the co-operation partner in the LiverScreen project. The EBPI is a leading coordinator of research streams from discovery science to population- and patient-based health research. We actively engage in contextualizing and translating evidence from epidemiological and clinical research to evidence-based medical and public health practice. At the EBPI we practice translational research. In a literal sense, that means that we “translate” research findings into everyday medical and public health practice. But it’s much more than that. We see the EBPI as a framework where researchers, medical professionals and the general public connect. And through this network we are able to best integrate research knowledge into medical practice and, conversely, to feed practical experience back into research. That does not happen everywhere. Because we not only conduct research, but also offer public clinical and preventive services, the EBPI is an exception in Switzerland and the world.

Main contact:  Miquel Serra Burriel, miquel.serraburriel@uzh.ch

Hannover Medical School (MHH) is one of Germany’s leading university hospitals. MHH stands as a distinguished institution renowned not only for its excellence in medical education and clinical care but also for its cutting-edge research facilities. Established in 1961, MHH has grown into a leading force in healthcare research, consistently pushing the boundaries of medical science. The MHH clinic is a maximum-care hospital with a supra-regional catchment area. The main research areas are Transplantation and Stem Cell Research/Regenerative Medicine, Infection and Immunology Research, Biomedical Engineering and Implant Research. 

The heart of MHH's reputation is its state-of-the-art research infrastructure. The institution hosts an impressive number of research facilities, laboratories, and specialized centres dedicated to various medical and basic science disciplines. From modern molecular biology and gene labs to advanced imaging and diagnostic equipment, MHH provides its researchers the tools they need to explore and innovate in the field of medicine. MHH's research infrastructure is its commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, thus researchers from diverse backgrounds come together within the institution's research centres to address complex medical challenges. Translational and back translational research is evident through its close collaboration between basic scientists and laboratory research professionals as well as clinical experts thus scientific results lead to direct benefit for the patients. The institution's research teams are at the forefront of developing innovative treatments, therapies, and medical technologies that have a profound impact on patient care. MHH plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthcare through innovation, collaboration, and a dedication to improving the health and well-being of individuals globally. 

The Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology at MHH consists of a group of professional investigators, and a large team of support staff, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer. The department comprises approximately 200 employees, which include medical professionals, scientific researchers, laboratory and administrative staff members. In addition, the school for dieticians is assigned to the department. The Department comprises the full range of gastrointestinal and hepatic diseases focusing on metabolic and infectious diseases, tumour diseases, transplantation and nutritional medicine. The Department has extensive functional areas like sonography and endoscopy facilities and central emergency capacities. Several outpatient facilities in the field of hepatology, irritable bowel diseases, oncology, transplant medicine, nutritional medicine, metabolic and several endocrinology diseases are at the disposal of patients and research. Our investigators pursue research designed for a better understanding of viral-host interactions, clinical outcome of diseases and inter-, intra-individual factors determining personalized strategies in medicine.  

Main contact: Frank Lammert, Lammert.Frank@mh-hannover.de