The American Liver Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary on Monday.
In advancing and fighting liver health, ALF has funded close to $30 million in critical research that supports and educates the 100 million Americans living with some form of liver disease.
ALF CEO Lorraine Stiehl spoke on their history.
“ALF has achieved numerous milestones that have shaped the landscape of liver health over the past 50 years, and we’re committed to driving progress 50 years forward to educate and support those battling a liver condition and help end liver disease,” she said. “As we look 50 years forward, we are excited for each milestone that represents 50 years of stepping stones dedicated to improving the lives of liver patients and their families.”
ALF Board Chair Emmanual Thomas thanked all of the foundation’s supporters.
“ALF expresses profound gratitude to its donors, volunteers, medical partners, scientists and researchers and the liver health community for their steadfast support of our mission for the past 50 years,” he said. “As ALF celebrates its legacy, we look 50 years forward with renewed commitment to fostering hope, advancing innovative breakthroughs, and supporting millions affected by liver disease.”
Some highlights throughout the decades:
- In the 1980s – ALF established a Research Awards Program that has since awarded close to $30 million to 923 scientists; $2.5M of which was awarded in the last two years alone. ALF launched Love Your Liver, its first community education program that taught elementary school children about liver health, resisting peer pressure, and saying no to drugs.
- In the 1990s – The first Irwin M. Arias Symposium: Bridging Basic Science & Liver Disease launched, uniting global scientists and physicians to bridge basic science and liver disease. Now in its 35th year, this one-day event has featured breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating liver diseases in children and adults worldwide.
- In the early 2000s – ALF launched a multi-year, nationwide community education campaign to raise awareness about Hepatitis B (Hep B) called THINK (The Hepatitis Information You Need to Know); ALF’s Board Chair Dr. James Boyer testified before Congress, advocating for increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Viral Hepatitis, and Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Organ Transplantation
- In 2010 to 2020 – Music legends Gregg Allman and Natalie Cole joined ALF’s nationwide Hepatitis C virus (HCV) campaign called “Tune in to Hep C”, to raise awareness about HCV; ALF formed its first-ever National Patient Advisory Committee (NPAC) to train liver patients across the nation to use their voices to advocate for change and raise awareness on Capitol Hill about many liver conditions.
In 2020 to the present – ALF launched Think Liver Think Life, it’s first nationwide public health initiative to screen U.S. adults for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and liver cancer, raising awareness and connecting communities to the care they need.
