Harrison Fellowship Highlights Patient Advocate Engagement at Liver Forum 20

MARCH 6–7, 2026, RESTON, VIRGINIA, USA

The Harrison Fellows Program was featured at Liver Forum 20, a multi-stakeholder meeting convened by the Forum for Collaborative Research that brings together leaders from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and the patient community to address key challenges in the development of therapies for metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

During the meeting, Elena Samsonova, Program Manager of the Dr. Stephen A. Harrison Patient Advocacy Fellowship, presented an overview of the Fellowship and its mission to support and train patient advocates to become active partners in therapeutic development.

The Fellowship was represented in person by Harrison Fellows Jacki Chen, Michele Radcliffe, and Bruce Dimmig, who participated in the meeting discussions and engaged with researchers, industry leaders, and regulators working to advance the field of steatotic liver disease. Many other fellows also joined the meeting virtually, allowing the broader cohort to follow the discussions and benefit from the insights shared during the conference.

In her presentation, Elena highlighted the importance of equipping patient advocates with the knowledge and confidence to move beyond storytelling and awareness into meaningful collaboration with researchers, regulators, and industry. The Fellowship aims to help patient advocates become co-creators in clinical trial design and regulatory conversations, ensuring that trials focus on outcomes that matter most to people living with steatotic liver disease.

By bringing real-world patient perspectives into discussions about trial endpoints, protocol feasibility, and participation barriers, advocates can help make clinical research more relevant, inclusive, and effective.

Liver Forum meetings are designed to foster open dialogue across stakeholder groups and to address complex scientific and regulatory questions that affect therapeutic development for liver diseases. Throughout the meeting, participants explored ongoing challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving MASLD/MASH treatment landscape, including the role of biomarkers, the complexity of disease progression, and the importance of collaborative approaches to clinical trial design.

From left to right: Elena Samsonova, Fatty Liver Foundation; Veronica Miller, Forum for Collaborative Research; José Willemse, Liver Patients International; Michele Radcliffe, Harrison Fellow; Jenn Jones, Sober Livers/Fatty Liver Foundation; Bruce Dimmig, Harrison Fellow; Frank Anania, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Henry Chang, Fatty Liver Foundation; Jacki Chen, Harrison Fellow.

Participation in forums such as this highlights the growing role of patient advocates in shaping the future of liver disease research and reinforces the Fellowship’s commitment to preparing advocates to contribute meaningfully to these conversations.