Next September, the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver (ALEH) will hold its XXV Congress from September 20 to 23 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. In this version, to be held during the presidency of Dr. Fernando Contreras, ALEH will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
It is worth noting that, for the first time in a Latin American Congress, the Presidents of the four Liver Associations members of the Liver Global Summit, will be actively participating in the meeting: AASLD, APASL, EASL and ALEH.
During the last years, ALEH has grown firmly and steadily, significantly increasing the number of members and its relationship with the different Liver Associations of Latin America. During Dr. Contreras’ mandate, three new countries were affiliated to ALEH: Honduras, El Salvador and Puerto Rico.
ALEH is looking forward to September, to be able to deliver a congress of excellent scientific quality. We invite Annals of Hepatology readers to visit the official website for more information: www.aleh2018.com
Educational ActivitiesALEH has spent the past years, focusing on spreading and promoting hepatology. To achieve this, ALEH has center many of their activities on facilitating access to different training options in the specialty, focusing mainly on young physicians with special interest in hepatology. In this way, agreements have been reached with renowned hepatological centers, universities and scientific associations that allow us to achieve our objectives. Below we will briefly describe some of these activities.
Ochsner Clinic ScholarshipIn recent years, ALEH has expanded its educational tools for its members. These include the 5 Ochsner Scholarships achieved after an agreement between ALEH and the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, USA. These scholarships consist on a 2-week rotation in Ochsner Clinic Liver Unit. At the time, Dr. Andrés Gómez from Colombia and Dr. Yessica Pontet from Uruguay, were benefited with the rotation. Both assistants agree that it has been a very enriching experience that enabled them to train in a renowned hepatology center. Their testimonies can be found at ALEH’s website www.alehlatam.org
University of Barcelona ScholarshipIn 2016, during the XXIV ALEH Congress, an agreement was signed between the University of Barcelona and ALEH, in order to sponsor an ALEH Member, to take the master’s Degree in clinical research at University of Barcelona. The first ALEH grant holder was Dr. Geovanny Hernández from Colombia, who has just returned to his country after 9 months living in Barcelona. During his stay in Spain, he had the opportunity to be trained by important hepatology leaders such as Andrés Cárdenas, Pere Ginés and Juan Carlos García Pagan, among others. Undoubtedly, this is a very important experience for Dr. Hernández who will now be able to share the knowledge acquired in his country.
Master Scholarship in Hepatology V Edition 2017-2018. Universidad Alcalá de Henares and Universidad Autónoma de MadridIn 2017, thanks to the important support received from Drs. Agustín Albillos and José Luis Calleja, two scholarships were awarded for the Master of Hepatology - online modality, organized by Universidad Alcalá de Henares and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. ALEH was represented by Dr. Laura Tenorio (Peru) and Dr. Daniela Hernández (Colombia). Both agreed that it was a very enriching learning experience, where all the topics concerning hepatology were touched upon, highlighting the ease of communication despite being an online modality.
To conclude the master’s degree, the scholars had to present a research paper, with the guidance of a designated tutor. For this year the bases for new applications to the ALEH scholarship are being prepared to participate in the master.
ALEH Membership BenefitsWe invite all readers of Annals of Hepatology, to visit our website (www.alehlatam.org) to learn more about all the benefits of being a member. The Board of Directors, together with ALEH’s group of interest commissions, are in continuous work to elaborate new proposals to position hepatology in the region and offer better training tools to its members.
