PFIC Family & Scientific Conference 2024

The PFIC Family and Scientific Conference is back! We are partnering with the  Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center to host this year’s conference. CCHMC recently launched their Undiagnosed Rare Liver Disease Center (CURL), and we are excited to work together to make this event a special one!

The 2024 Family & Scientific Conference will be a hybrid meeting with opportunities to attend both in person and virtually. We invite you to join us in person April 25-27, 2024 at the Sabin Auditorium on the CCHMC Burnet Campus in downtown Cincinnati.

The conference program includes a combination of family sessions, family-researcher roundtables and a research workshop.

PFIC Family Meeting Theme: The Present & Future of Treatment for PFIC

CURL Research Workshop Theme: Modeling PFIC to Diagnose and Develop Treatments

The purpose of the PFIC Family & Scientific Conference is to bring together patients, researchers, providers, and industry partners to collaborate and learn from one another. PFIC Network advocates for the needs of the patient community and believes in the benefits of close partnerships with researchers and industry partners. It is driven by the concept that patients understand their disease through daily experience and are therefore optimally positioned to jointly identify current knowledge gaps where new knowledge could be most impactful.

To enrich this event and utilize the gathering of PFIC experts, CURL is hosting a research workshop focusing on PFIC disease modeling for diagnosis and treatment development. Additionally, by inviting workshop-participating researchers, PFIC Network will add research roundtable events to the annual conference to enhance learning opportunities for PFIC families.

In Person Attendance:

• Patient, Family Member or Caregiver: $50
• Child Under 12: Free
• Clinician or Researcher: $125
• Industry Stakeholders $175

Virtual Attendance:

• Patient, Family Member or Caregiver: Free
• Clinician or Researcher: $125
• Industry Stakeholders $175

In person registration includes a welcome reception on Thursday evening, breakfast & lunch during the conference on Friday & Saturday and a dinner at the Cincinnati Zoo on Friday evening. Virtual attendance includes all family sessions, research workshop presentations and roundtable discussions. CME is also available for virtual attendees. (See below for more information out CME opportunities)

We have a limited number of travel scholarships available for patients and families to offset the costs of conference attendance. Families may apply for up to $1,000 USD in assistance. Scholarship applications will be accepted until February 24th. Apply now!

If you are a US resident, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) offers several scholarships to help cover travel costs that rare disease patients and caregivers may apply for:

• Rare Disease Educational Support Program
• Caregiver Respite Aid Program

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Cincinnati Children’s and PFIC Network. Cincinnati Children’s is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Ph*rm*cy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

If you need proof of attendance or credit, please visit the to make your profile to receive credit. CME is also available for virtual attendance.

• CME: This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
• Nursing: This activity is approved for continuing nursing education (CNE) contact hours.
• IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.

There is a conference room block reserved at The Graduate Cincinnati. Hotel rooms are available at a discounted conference rate when booked through the conference room block. It is located in downtown Cincinnati, just minutes from the conference venue.

We are taking precautions to make members of our at-risk community feel safe attending in person if they so choose. This event will abide by all local and venue rules and regulations regarding masking, vaccination and disease prevention. We encourage all attendees to get vaccinated, take a Covid test before traveling and to attend virtually if feeling ill.

Eventbrite fees are nonrefundable. A full refund for conference registration minus Eventbrite fees is available until March 1, 2023. Refunds will not be issued for cancellations after that date.

Please visit the conference website for a full agenda and schedule!

Family Session Topics

• Current & Emerging Treatments for PFIC
• Current Prognosis and Prospects for Liver Transplant
• Pre-Transplant Diet & Nutrition
• Patient Centered Outcomes & the PFIC Network Patient Registry
• PFIC in Adults
• Future Treatments for PFIC
• Lay Summary of the Conference Research Workshop

Research Workshop Topics

• Novel PFIC2 models
• Models for new types of PFIC
• PFIC1 model and gene silencing therapies for Alagille Syndrome
• Gene and cell therapies

Roundtable Discussion Topics

• Project IMPACT and Patient Centered Outcomes Research
• Understanding Risk/Benefit of PFIC Treatments, Present and Future

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Cincinnati, United States