Deciphering NASH: Revealing the Unrevealed in Stain-free Biopsies

PRESENTER DETAILS & TOPICS:

Prof. Nikolai Naoumov MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCPath, FAASLD
Adviser for Digital Pathology and Drug Development in Liver Diseases 

Prof. Nikolai Naoumov is a physician-scientist with a professional career spanning academia, clinical care and drug development, all focused on liver diseases. He is Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Royal College of Pathologists (UK). His research integrated immunology, molecular biology and translational medicine in elucidating virus-host interactions and mechanisms of liver injury. Prof. Naoumov led research teams at King’s College Institute of Liver Studies, London and subsequently as Professor of Hepatology at University College London. Between 2007 and 2021, Prof. Naoumov expanded his contributions to medical science and clinical hepatology as senior executive at Novartis Global Drug Development in Basel, Switzerland. As Global Head, Therapeutic area Hepatology and Transplantation he championed innovation, novel therapies and multiple industry-academia collaborations globally. In parallel, he continued contributing to liver research as Honorary Professor of Hepatology at UCL, trustee and adviser to the Liver Research Foundations in the UK and in Switzerland. Prof. Naoumov’s current work is focused on AI digital pathology, liver fibrosis, NASH and HBV cure.

Presentation Topic: Uncovering Novel Insights of Treatment-induced Fibrosis Regression in NASH with Stain-free AI Digital Pathology

Current scoring systems of NASH biopsies had been developed to assess fibrosis progression, and do not capture the full spectrum of treatment-induced changes. The second harmonic generation/two-photon excitation fluorescence (SHG/TPEF) microscopy provides a standardised and reproducible quantification of NASH fibrosis on a linear scale, as well as fine details of the collagen fibres.
At the EASL meeting in June 2021, we presented novel findings using SGH/TPEF microscopy with AI analyses in an exploratory investigation to gain in-depth understanding of the treatment response of tropifexor, a non-bile acid farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist, in patients with histologically proven NASH. The results, which will be presented and discussed during the webinar, demonstrate that SHG/TPEF assessment of unstained liver biopsies is a promising tool for quantitative evaluation of liver fibrosis with new parameters that cannot be detected by human eye. This approach provides new insights into the dynamics of fibrosis regression and treatment response, which are not captured by conventional staging systems.

Dr. Tim Kendall BM, PhD, FRCPath
Senior Clinical Fellow in Pathology and Honorary Consultant Pathologist, University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research; Edinburgh Pathology – The University of Edinburgh, UK

Dr. Kendall is a Senior Clinical Fellow in Pathology and Honorary Consultant Histopathologist. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Ph.D. from the University of Southampton before undertaking post-graduate training in pathology in Southampton and then Edinburgh. He was appointed as an honorary consultant within NHS Lothian in 2011, specialising in liver pathology. Dr. Kendall is interested in hepatic myofibroblast biology, particular their role in liver scarring and primary and metastatic malignancy. He also undertakes histopathological review and scoring to facilitate translational and clinical research with local, national, and international collaborators. His particular interest is in quantitative and digital pathology in basic science and clinical research settings.

Presentation Topic: Overcoming Staining-related Variations in a Liver Biopsy with Stain-free AI Digital Pathology

Apart from gaining additional information from a liver biopsy that would prove valuable in determining treatment efficacy, AI-DP methods continue to show promise in potentially overcoming inherent inter-observer variation that occurs with manual scoring. A clinical study by the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Inflammation Research and University of Nottingham’s Digestive Diseases Centre explored the pitfalls of staining and highlighted the following points on staining-related challenges:
– The study suggests that computational measures of liver scarring from stained sections are compromised by inter- and intra-laboratory staining.
– A stain-free quantitative SHG measurement avoids staining-related variations and shows potential in providing a more accurate and consistent detection of minute incremental changes in scarring that may arise in NASH clinical trials.

Mr. Anthony Lie (Moderator)
Head of Clinical Affairs, HistoIndex

HistoIndex

HistoIndex® is a Singapore-based leading MedTech company that specializes in its proprietary integrated stain-free AI digital pathology (AI-DP) platform, incorporating Second Harmonic Generation (SHG). The platform accurately quantifies post-treatment changes in disease features, particularly those that are unnoticeable with conventional microscopy and yet critical for the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy. HistoIndex’s technology is currently involved in multiple FDA clinical trials for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and Hepatitis B and has benefitted more than 150 organizations globally.

The meeting is free to attend

Register For Free