2025 Distinguished Awardees

Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, FAASLD

Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD is the Mitchell T. Rabkin, M.D. Chair, Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean at Harvard Medical School and Chief Academic Officer at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Beth Israel Lahey Health. Dr. Szabo’s research focuses on the role of inflammation and innate immune and molecular pathways to identify new therapeutic targets in liver diseases. Her group discovered that NLRP3 inflammasome and the IL-1ß pathway are potential therapeutic targets in alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) and MASLD leading to first-time clinical trials in AH. Her investigations pioneered understanding of micro-RNAs and extracellular vesicles in inter-cellular and inter-organ communication in liver diseases. She is member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and fellow of the AASLD, AGA, and ACP. Dr. Szabo has served as President of AASLD in 2015 and inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology Communications. She received the 2020 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the American Liver Foundation.

Lewis R. Roberts, MB, ChB, PhD, FAASLD

Dr. Lewis R. Roberts is the Peter and Frances Georgeson Professor in Gastroenterology Cancer Research and Consultant in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, where he is Co-Principal Investigator of the Mayo Clinic Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Hepatobiliary Cancers. Dr. Roberts is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the African Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He serves on the Boards of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Roberts’ research focuses on molecular mechanisms of liver and biliary carcinogenesis, biomarkers for diagnosis of liver, bile duct and pancreas cancers, and prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis and liver cancer, with a particular interest in immigrant African communities in the USA as well as in Africa. He has authored over 500 articles, book chapters and letters, and co-edited the book “Evaluation and Management of Liver Masses.” He serves as President of Africa Partners Medical, a non-profit organization focused on improving healthcare delivery in Africa through medical education, practical skills training, provision of medical equipment and supplies, and health advocacy, as President of the West Africa Institute for Liver and Digestive Diseases Foundation, and as a member of the Advisory Council for The Hepatitis Fund. Dr. Roberts is a founding member of the Africa HepatoPancreatoBiliary Cancer Consortium.

Robert J. Fontana, MD, FAASLD

Robert J. Fontana, MD, FAASLD is an accomplished researcher, master clinician, and outstanding teacher and educator. He is an internationally recognized expert in acute and chronic liver failure with particular expertise in drug hepatotoxicity and liver transplantation. He has served the AASLD in numerous ways over the years including as director, moderator, and speaker at various scientific fora, annual meetings, the Postgraduate course, and single topic conferences. Dr. Fontana has served as chair of numerous SIG’s and Committees, as a Guideline author and editorial member of AASLD’s flagship journals, and as a developer and participant in numerous educational webinars, podcasts, and seminars. He has helped mentor many students, residents and fellows at the University of Michigan and other institutions over the years who have gone on to successful independent careers in hepatology.

Dr. David Ross received a Bachelor of Science cum laude in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale College in 1980. He then matriculated into the Medical Scientist Training Program at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D., along with a M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He subsequently received a master’s degree in biomedical informatics from Oregon Health & Sciences University. After completing a categorical internal medicine residency at NYU, Dr. Ross received his infectious diseases fellowship training at Yale University School of Medicine, subsequently serving on the faculty there. He then joined the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he served as a medical officer for ten years. During his tenure at CDER, he led the reviews for the New Drug Applications for linezolid and daptomycin, representing the first new classes of antibacterials approved in over 30 years. He subsequently served as deputy director of the CDER office regulating therapeutic biologics and as associate director for science in CDER’s Office of Oncology Drug Products. Since 2006, Dr. Ross has served as National Program Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ HIV, Hepatitis, and Related Conditions Programs. In this role, he is responsible for the largest HIV and viral hepatitis care and prevention programs in the U.S. Dr. Ross is board-certified in infectious diseases and serves as a staff physician in the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Washington, DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He also is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Dr. Timothy Morgan is Director of the VA Liver Health Program, which oversees the policies and practice of liver care for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Previously, he was Director of the VA Hepatitis C Resource Center, which oversaw the VA hepatitis C elimination program. He is also Chief of Hepatology at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. Dr. Morgan has served on the AASLD Public Policy Committee, Practice Metrics Committee, and Guidance Committee, and has been a speaker at the AASLD PG courses and Single Topic Conferences. He has been the chair of the VA Hepatitis C Treatment Considerations Committee, the Co-Chair of the AASLD-IDSA Hepatitis C Guideline Committee, and a member of the White House Hepatitis C Elimination Moonshot Initiative. He was a member of the AASLD-EASL NAFLD Nomenclature Consensus Committee and is Chair of the VA MASLD Treatment Considerations Committee. He has also been a speaker at AASLD-EASL Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Endpoints meetings and at FDA meetings on alcohol-related hepatitis and MASH. He has been a PI on VA- and NIH-funded clinical research in hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Dr. Morgan is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine and a fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, the American Gastroenterology Association, and the American College of Physicians.