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The past 10 years of gastroenterology and hepatology—reflections and predictions

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 11, pages 692–700 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

In November 2004, the very first issue of this journal featured articles on the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis, mechanisms leading to chronic pancreatitis, and treatment of recurrent Clostridium-difficile-associated diarrhoea. Although those topics might seem familiar, much has changed in the intervening years in our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of many different diseases across the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. Nonetheless, many challenges remain. Here, we have asked five of our Advisory Board members—international experts across different subspecialties in gastroenterology and hepatology—to reflect on the progress and frustrations of the past 10 years. They also comment on where effort and money should be invested now, as well as their predictions for progress in the next 10 years.

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Acknowledgements

S.L.F. performs laboratory studies supported by NIH grants DK56621 and AA020709. K.A.S. thanks G. Mawe, University of Vermont, USA, for his insightful comments and many helpful suggestions. K.A.S. holds the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research. Owing to space limitations, only selected references were cited. J.J.Y.S. holds the Grants from the State Key Laboratory of People's Republic of China and Research Grant Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Government. D.C.W. thanks M. Kienholz, D. Yadav, and D. Conwell for critical review of the manuscript. D.C.W.'s research is supported by the NIH, the Department of Defense, the National Pancreas Foundation, and the Wayne Fusaro Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, and an educational grant from AbbVie.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Liver Disease, Box 1123, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1425 Madison Avenue, Room 11-70C, New York, 10029-6574, NY, USA

    Scott L. Friedman

  2. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Houston Methodist Hospital, 6550 Fannin Street, SM 1001, Houston, 77030, TX, USA

    Eamonn M. M. Quigley

  3. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada

    Keith A. Sharkey

  4. University Administration Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1/F, Room 101, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR, The People's Republic of China

    Joseph J. Y. Sung

  5. Department of Medicine, Cell Biology & Molecular Physiology and Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, Room 401.4, 3708 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15231, PA, USA

    David C. Whitcomb

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Correspondence to Scott L. Friedman, Eamonn M. M. Quigley, Keith A. Sharkey, Joseph J. Y. Sung or David C. Whitcomb.

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Competing interests

S.L.F. acts as a consultant and has equity interests in Genfit and Intercept Pharmaceuticals. D.C.W. acts as a consultant for AbbVie, Millennium and Novartis and has equity in Ambry Genetics and SMART-MD. E.M.M.Q., K.A.S. and J.J.Y.S. declare no competing interests.

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Friedman, S., Quigley, E., Sharkey, K. et al. The past 10 years of gastroenterology and hepatology—reflections and predictions. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 11, 692–700 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.167

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