FONDATION CARDIOMETABOLISME NUTRITION (ICAN)/ ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE HOPITAUX DE PARIS (AP-HP)
The Foundation for Innovation in Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (IHU ICAN) is a French centre of excellence, established in 2011 at the heart of the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital. To achieve its mission, ICAN draws on the expertise of its founding members: Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and Sorbonne University (SU). IHU ICAN aims to accelerate the translation of preclinical and clinical discoveries to the care of patients suffering from cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. For this purpose, IHU ICAN has developed cutting-edge platforms for translational research, particularly for imaging cardiometabolic tissues and integrating clinical and multi-omics data. In 2019, IHU ICAN supported the establishment of the AP-HP NASH clinic, composed of an interdisciplinary medical team that offers optimized diagnosis and management of fatty liver disease.
IHU ICAN is a proud partner in the LIVERAIM project, sharing its vision to advance liver disease research, raise awareness of its impact, and reduce the growing burden of liver disease. IHU ICAN will contribute to the longitudinal expansion of the European NAFLD Registry cohort study and power the LIVERAIM biomarker research with the knowledge and experience acquired in previous projects, demonstrating its commitment to collaborative and impactful research.
TEAM MEMBERS
Prof. Vlad Ratziu
Vlad Ratziu is a distinguished professor of hepatology at Sorbonne Université and practices medicine at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France. Professor Ratziu's research focuses on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the risk factors, progression, and mechanisms of liver fibrosis in viral and metabolic diseases, and the treatment of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. He has led or participated in several clinical trials in MASH, from early to late stages of development, and has published over 400 articles in leading journals. Prof. Ratziu coordinated the Fatty Liver Inhibition of Progression (FLIP) consortium, which aimed to study the mechanisms of liver disease progression in metabolic steatosis and develop therapeutic interventions based on one of the largest patient cohorts in Europe. He participated in the Steering Committee of the Horizon 2020 NASH EPoS and the IMI2 LITMUS Consortia. He serves as Co-Editor for the Journal of Hepatology.
Dr Raluca Pais
Dr Raluca Pais (MD, PhD) is a hepatologist and gastroenterologist practicing at the Pitié Salpetrière Hospital. Her main research interests lie in MASLD, the mechanisms, risk factors, progression of liver fibrosis, and occurrence of clinical outcomes (hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, cardiovascular events). She is the referring physician for the NASH clinic, the first hospital structure for the diagnosis and multidisciplinary management of patients with metabolic steatosis in France. Dr Pais has communicated the results of her work at numerous international conferences (EASL, AASLD) and has co-authored over 170 peer-reviewed articles. She is deeply involved in clinical research in MASLD and participates in several European consortia; thus, she will significantly contribute to ICAN’s assets in LIVERAIM.