What We've Accomplished and Where We're Headed with Wilson Disease Therapies

It's been 70 years since the first therapies were introduced to treat Wilson disease. Those discoveries transformed this rare genetic liver disease from being an always fatal disease to one that can be treated and managed. Dr. Michael Schilsky, the WDA Medical Advisory Committee Chair, highlights the accomplishments made in the treatment of Wilson disease and previews what's yet to come. These remarks were prepared for the Wilson Disease Association's first virtual conference in December 2020.
Michael Schilsky, MD, became medical director of liver transplantation at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2007, with appointments in medicine and surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Schilsky received his medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his residency and fellowship in gastroenterology and research training in liver diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. His clinical and research interests include transplant hepatology, inherited metabolic disorders of the liver, Wilson disease and hemochromatosis. Dr. Schilsky previously served as director of the liver medicine clinic at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center and medical director for liver transplantation at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he developed a comprehensive program for the care and evaluation of liver transplant patients. Dr. Schilsky coauthored the AASLD practice guidelines for Wilson disease and is author of numerous original manuscripts and reviews.