The enormous health and economic burden of gastrointestinal disease worldwide warrants a sharp focus on the etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and development of new therapies. By the end of the last century we had seen enormous advances, both in technologies to visualize disease and in curative therapies in areas such as gastric ulcer, with the advent first of the H2-antagonists and then the proton pump inhibitors - clear examples of how advances in medicine can massively benefit the patient. Nevertheless, specialists face ongoing challenges from a wide array of diseases of diverse etiology. 
  
In the related field of hepatology, liver disease and cirrhosis are the seventh leading cause of death among adults between 25–64 years of age in the USA alone. Specifically, Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than the AIDS virus and currently 5% of the population, worldwide, is infected. 
  
As the scientific and clinical communities address these challenges with new technologies, new therapeutic and diagnostic modalities and new understanding of disease at the molecular level, the scientific literature is proliferating explosively. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology (ISSN 1747-4124) provides comprehensive coverage of state-of-the-art research and clinical advancements in the field as they occur. The journal focuses on the latest advances in our pathological, biochemical and physiological understanding of the diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract and liver, in addition to up-to-the-minute developments in strategies for prevention, diagnosis and intervention. 
  
Article coverage includes the following key areas: 
• Latest advances in pathological, biochemical and physiological understanding of the diseases of the digestive system and its associated organs 
• Developments in investigative strategies; such as radiology, endoscopy, cholangiopancreatography, colonoscopy and liver biopsy 
• Advances in molecular diagnosis and biomarker research 
• Recent developments in pharmacological approaches and emerging therapeutics 
• Drug safety 
• Disease-specific reviews, including coverage of digestive cancers, hepatitis infections, liver cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease, functional gastrointestinal disorder, and biliary and gall bladder disease 
• Optimal management of pediatric digestive diseases, with regard to diagnosis and issues, such as absorption, nutrition and growth 
• Psychosocial aspects 
• Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research, supplemented by cost–benefit analysis 
  
The Expert Review format is unique in that it fosters a forward-thinking approach. Each review provides a complete overview of current understanding in a key area, which is augmented by the following key sections: 
  
Expert Opinion - a personal view of the data presented in the article, a discussion on the developments that are likely to be important in the future, and the avenues of research likely to become exciting as further studies yield more detailed results 
Article Highlights – an executive summary of the author’s most critical points 
   
All reviews are subject to peer review, with a minimum of three independent evaluations. 
  
Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology provides a forum for systematic, authoritative analysis and debate for all professionals within this specialty.

Arber N, Tel Aviv University, Israel 
Brugge WR, University of Harvard, MA, USA 
Chung DC, University of Harvard, MA, USA 
Clavien PA, University of Zurich, Switzerland 
Colombel JF, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, France 
Costamagna G, Catholic University A Gemelli, Rome, Italy                                       
Guandalini S, University of Chicago, IL, USA 
Hadziyannis SJ, Athens University, Greece 
Hanauer SB, University of Chicago, IL, USA   
Jankowski JA, Oxford University, UK 
Jewell DP, University of Oxford, UK 
Katz PO, Thomas Jefferson University, PA, USA 
Lau GKK, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 
Lichtenstein GR, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA 
Luxon BA, University of Iowa, IA, USA 
Malfertheiner P, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, Germany 
Martin P, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY, USA 
McCaughan GW, University of Sydney, Australia 
Mistry PK, Yale School of Medicine, CT, USA 
Moayyedi P, McMaster University, Canada 
O'Morain C, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland 
Pimentel M, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, CA, USA 
Powell L, University of Queensland, Australia 
Quigley EM, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland 
Rao SC, University of Iowa, IA, USA 
Rex DK, Indiana University, IN, USA 
Rothenberg ME, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, OH, USA 
Roukos D, Ioannina University, Greece 
Russo MW, University of North Carolina, NC, USA 
Talley NJ, Mayo Clinic, MN, USA 
Wilcox CM, University of Alabama, AL, USA