GI faculty earn awards and recognition at DDW16

During Digestive Disease Week, the world’s largest gathering of digestive disease researchers and physicians, University of Michigan faculty and staff earned awards and recognition from colleagues in gastroenterology. Those honored include:

• Graham Brady, M.D., Ph.D., who earned the DDW Basic Science Travel Award, AGA-GRG Fellow Abstract Prize. The DDW travel awards were created to encourage trainees to become more involved in digestive disease research.
• John Carethers, M.D., chair of the U-M Department of Internal Medicine, who earned the Gastrointestinal Oncology Section Research Mentor Award from the AGA Institute Council. Awardees have committed themselves to training young investigators and have a demonstrated track record of outstanding research mentorship.
• Grace Elta, M.D., medical director of the Medical Procedures Unit and DDW Council Chair, will give the 2016 Jack A. Vennes, M.D., and Stephen E. Silvis M.D. State-of-the-art Lecture. In recognition of the role of Drs. Vennes and Silvis in the evolution of the GI practice and their commitment to teaching complex endoscopic procedures to generations of gastroenterologists, the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) honors the physicians with the lectureship.
• Anna S. Lok, M.D., director of clinical hepatology, earned the William Beaumont Prize from the American Gastroenterological Association for her research that paved the way for high cure rates for hepatitis C. The prize recognizes an individual who has made a unique, outstanding contribution of major importance to the field.
• Costas Lyssiotis, Ph.D., earned the AGA-Caroline Craig Augustyn and Damian Augustyn Award in Digestive Cancer. The grant is for a young investigator, instructor, research associate or equivalent who currently holds a federal or non-federal career development award devoted to conducting research related to digestive cancer.
• Anoop Prabhu, M.D., earned an interactive education – ASGE Learning Center Honorable Mention. The ASGE Learning Center is an educational resource that provides DDW attendees the opportunity to participate in hands-on training and learn how ASGE is advancing the practice of endoscopy.