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2026 AASLD-EASL Masterclass

Masterclass Overview

December 11-13, 2026 | Alexandria, Virginia at Hotel AKA Alexandria.

The Masterclass is designed to give promising early-stage investigators (junior faculty members) the opportunity to advance their careers in hepatology through a mix of scientific and professional workshops aimed at developing personal and professional skills.

In addition to scientific sessions, the 2026 Masterclass will include leadership skills workshops, grants and manuscript career development workshops, case-based presentations and discussions, and poster presentations. Attendance is limited to 25 participants.

Masterclass Chairs and Co-Chairs:

AASLD

Michael R. Lucey, MD, FAASLD
Rotonya Carr, MD, FACP, FAASLD

EASL

Mattias Mandorfer, MD, PhD
Cyrielle Caussy, MD, PhD

AASLD Eligibility & Requirements

To be eligible for this award, the applicant must fulfill all the following criteria: 

The applicant must reside in the United States, Canada, or Mexico and be a full member in good standing of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) at the time of submission of the application and maintain their membership through the event.  
The applicant must be a Junior Faculty member (First Year Instructor - Assistant Professor or equivalent) within the first five (5) years of their first faculty appointment at a medical or research institution within North America (U.S., Canada, or Mexico) at the time of application.  
The applicant must be an investigator with a highly promising record demonstrated by one of the following: 
- Received awards during training (e.g., AASLD Post-doctoral fellow award and/or Advanced Hepatology Fellowship Award) and/or, 
- Received a major independent or mentored external research grant award from a federal agency (e.g., NIH, AHRQ, CDC, PCORI, VA, NSF, CIHR, or equivalent) or Foundation (e.g., AASLD, AGA, ACG, ALF), including K01, K08, K23, KL2, K12, K99/R00, R21, or equivalent awards and/or,
- Received investigator-initiated support from industry 
The applicant must be committed to and demonstrate success as an early-career investigator focused on basic, translational, or clinical science.
The applicant must be able to travel to and attend the 2026 Masterclass held on December 11 – 13 in Alexandria, Virginia. 
The applicant must submit an abstract for presentation at the Masterclass. The abstract may be previously published, and if selected for Masterclass, you may be asked to present as a poster or in an oral session. 
The applicant cannot have attended a previous AASLD-EASL Masterclass.

EASL Eligibility & Requirements

To be eligible for this award, the applicant must fulfill all the following criteria: 

The applicant must reside in Europe (WHO Europe region) and have an active EASL membership at the time of submission of the application and maintain their membership through the event. 
The applicant must be a Junior Faculty member (First Year Instructor - Assistant Professor or equivalent) within the first 5 years of their first faculty appointment at a medical or research institution within Europe at the time of application.  
The applicant must be an investigator with a highly promising record demonstrated by one of the following: 
- Received awards during training (e.g., post-doctoral fellow award and/or Advanced Hepatology Fellowship Award) and/or
- Received a major independent or mentored external research grant award and/or
- Received investigator-initiated support from industry 
The applicant must be committed to and demonstrate success as an early-career investigator focused on basic, translational or clinical science  
The applicant must submit an abstract for presentation at the Masterclass. The abstract may be previously published and if selected for Masterclass you may be asked to present as a poster or in an oral session
Previous Masterclass attendees (Masterclass alumni) cannot attend again. Previous applicants that were not selected to attend a Masterclass are welcome to apply if they still meet the eligibility criteria

Selection Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated based upon their training, commitment to hepatology, academic/research accomplishments, letters of support, and their potential as a future leader in hepatology. Review criteria will include: 

Prior and ongoing training 
Publication and Presentation track record 
Honors and awards 
Having received: 
- Received awards during training e.g. AASLD Post-doctoral fellow award and/or Advanced Hepatology Fellowship Award and/or 
- Received a major independent or mentored external research grant award from a federal agency (e.g., NIH, AHRQ, CDC, PCORI, VA, NSF, CIHR, or equivalent) or Foundation (e.g., AASLD, AGA, ACG, ALF), including K01, K08, K23, KL2, K12, K99/R00, R21, or equivalent awards and/or 
- Received investigator-initiated support from industry 
Potential for successful career in academic hepatology 
Leadership potential

Applications will be reviewed based on the written materials submitted. Incomplete applications and applications that fail to adhere strictly to the instructions, including the submission deadline, and page limitations will not be reviewed. 

All decisions are final.  

2026 AASLD-EASL Masterclass Application Instructions

To successfully complete your application:

Print or type responses. 
Include only the required documents and provide signatures as requested. 
Use 11 Point Arial font and margins no smaller than a half inch. 
Assemble the application package in the order listed in the Required Documents section below.   
Be sure to adhere to page limits and complete all sections. Applications that do not meet the requirements, in content or format, will not be reviewed. 
The completed application, letters of recommendation, and other documents as applicable must be combined into and submitted as one PDF document. Name the PDF file as follows:  2026 Masterclass_Last name, first name (Example: 2026 Masterclass _Smith, Jane)

AASLD Submission

The application deadline is Monday, June 15, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern time. Applications received after the deadline will not be reviewed.

Submit your application online at 2026 Masterclass Application. You will be sent an email confirmation that your application was received. If an email confirmation is not received in two (2) business days, please contact awards@aasld.org to confirm receipt. 

Required Documents 

Submit only the 4 documents assembled in the order listed below: 

Applicant’s Biosketch (Limit five pages): Provide a biographical sketch using the current NIH SF 424 Form https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm. Be certain your grant funding information is up-to-date.   
Candidate’s Statement (Limit two pages): Describe the benefits of this opportunity to your academic/research career and your motivation for attending. Please highlight your previous accomplishments and future career goals. 
Two Letters of Recommendation (Limit one page each): Two letters of recommendation, one from the applicant’s Division Chief/Department Chair and one from the applicant’s Mentor, attesting to the candidate’s qualifications, commitment to hepatology, quality of work, and leadership potential should be submitted with the application.
Abstract – Provide your research presentation abstract.

EASL Submission