{"id":12186,"date":"2026-03-06T08:38:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/?post_type=news&p=12186"},"modified":"2026-03-18T08:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:19:17","slug":"wimr-to-host-new-seven-year-national-liver-health-program-backed-by-over-15-million","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/news\/wimr-to-host-new-seven-year-national-liver-health-program-backed-by-over-15-million\/","title":{"rendered":"WIMR to host new seven-year national liver health program backed by over $15 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new seven-year national research program targeting Fatty Liver Disease will be headquartered at the Storr Liver Centre at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR), supported by major long-term funding of over $15 million from Snow Medical<\/a> – believed to be the largest philanthropic donation for liver research in Australian history. <\/strong>

A major new national research initiative backed by Snow Medical<\/a> will unite leading researchers and clinicians to tackle fatty liver disease – one of the fastest-growing and most under-recognised threats to public health.

The challenge: a rapidly growing health threat<\/strong>

Fatty liver disease (metabolic dysfunction\u2013associated fatty liver disease, MAFLD) affects up to one in three Australian adults and is now among the leading causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. While many people may have few symptoms early on, for some, the disease progresses to advanced scarring (fibrosis), cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer, and is also linked to increased cardiovascular and cancer-related mortality.

Globally, deaths among people with fatty liver disease were estimated at 1.2 million in 2015, driven largely by cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer and cardiovascular disease, and are projected to rise by 44% to 1.83 million deaths annually by 2030.
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The program will address four major unmet needs in fatty liver disease: advancing the understanding of disease pathogenesis, improving non-invasive tests, developing new approaches to therapy and modifying post-liver transplantation outcomes. With no approved pharmatherapies, a key emphasis is improving how fatty liver disease is detected and monitored. By developing and validating better non-invasive approaches to measure fibrosis, the program aims to reduce reliance on biopsy, support more early diagnosis, and facilitate closer tracking of disease progression and response to treatment. This will ultimately translate into real world patient benefit through more accurate clinical decision making, reduced uncertainty for patients, and fewer avoidable follow-up tests and costs as care becomes more targeted over time.

A long-term transformative, national program<\/strong>

The Snow Program for Liver Health brings together a national, multidisciplinary team spanning discovery science, clinical
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