Masao Omata, MD, is an Co-Editor of Hepatology International with Prof. Sarin. He graduated from the Chiba University School of Medicine (Dr. K Okuda), and continued his training at Yale University (Dr. G Klatskin), USA and in the Liver Unit at the University of Southern California (Dr. RL Peters). In 1992, he became Chairman of the Second Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Tokyo, Japan and then subsequently became Chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology. Under his leadership, the Department of Gastroenterology had become one of the foremost centers in its field, educating more than 200 young hepatologists and gastroenterologists including 40 students from abroad.He has published 1,026 articles in peer-reviewed English journals (5 N Engl J Med, 6 Lancet, 41 Gastroenterology, 54 Hepatology) in all disciplines of gastroenterology and hepatology (total impact factors;4,932, total citations;24,274 times, H-index;78 as of 03/01/2010). He was the Presidents of the 17^th Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) in 2007 and the 50^th Japanese Society of Gastroenterology meeting in 2008. Currently, he is an Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology International (the Official Journal of APASL), and is in charge of APASL-Tokyo-Secretariat. In 2009, he was promoted to become the president of two hospitals; Yamanashi Central (691 beds) and Kita (200 beds) Hospitals to upgrade the medical care system in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, where, although scenic place with Mt. Fuji, hepatitis virus infection is endemic. The governor of Yamanashi has asked Prof. Omata to combat with the liver diseases of his homeland under his expertise, and also run the two hospitals as a president.