Action Plan for Liver Disease Research

Liver disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, affecting persons of all ages, but most frequently individuals in the productive years of life, between the ages of 40 and 60 years. Liver disease also disproportionately affects minority individuals and the economically disadvantaged. Medical research on liver disease is critically important and further progress in research promises to bring under control the major toll of liver disease on human health and well-being. Indeed, the last 25 years of medical research in liver disease have resulted in major improvements in the survival and quality-of-life of patients with liver disease. The next 25 years should bring even more profound and important changes.

To address the burden of liver diseases in the United States, the National Institutes of Health developed a 10-year Action Plan for Liver Disease Research, which was released in 2004.