Every year at The Liver Meeting we recognize deserving colleagues for their accomplishments and contributions to the liver community. To learn more about the awards, nominations process, and past recipients review the information below. We look forward to receiving your nomination!
Distinguished Awards
Nominations for the 2023 Awards are now open!
Award recipients will be selected by the Distinguished Awards Committee with input from the Governing Board. Nominees are not required to be members of AASLD.
Distinguished Achievement Award
The Distinguished Achievement Award is given to an individual in honor of his or her sustained scientific contributions to the field of liver disease and the scientific foundations of hepatology. The award honors a sustained contribution rather than a single discovery or major achievement.
Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award
The Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award is given in honor of the sustained service of clinician educators to AASLD or the liver community in general. The award recognizes the skills of outstanding clinicians and educators who have made momentous contributions to hepatology over an extended period.
Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award is given to an individual in honor of his or her sustained service to AASLD or the liver disease community in general. The award recognizes service provided to the community of hepatology researchers and clinicians over an extended period; service that is well above and beyond that provided by many members who serve on the Governing Board and Committees of AASLD.
Distinguished Advocacy Service Award
The AASLD Distinguished Advocacy Service Award is given to an advocacy organization or individual in honor of sustained service to the liver disease community in general. The award recognizes service provided to the hepatology community over an extended period that raises awareness and garners public and federal legislative support and promotes liver health and quality patient care.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Distinguished Awards
What are the AASLD Distinguished Awards?
Each year, AASLD acknowledges those whose achievements over a sustainable period of time, in the field of hepatology, are significant and warrant recognition.
The Distinguished Awards are comprised of:
- Distinguished Achievement Award
- Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award
- Distinguished Service Award
- Distinguished Advocacy Service Award
Who selects those receiving a 2023 Distinguished Award?
AASLD’s Governing Board, the organization’s highest leadership body.
What is the timeline for the 2023 Distinguished Awards?
AASLD’s Governing Board will make the decision at its August 2023 meeting. However, the process began several months earlier when the call for nominations opened on February 15, 2023.
What is the deadline for nominations?
The nominations period will close at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, April 30, 2023
Who can submit a nomination?
All members of AASLD are eligible and encouraged to submit a nomination.
Can I nominate myself?
Yes! The Governing Board encourages self-nominations. This allows us to learn about qualified candidates who may not have had the same widespread recognition as others.
How much time does it take to nominate someone (or myself)?
Because AASLD understands how busy members are, the nominations process is done online.
- To learn more about each award, go to https://www.aasld.org/distinguished-awards
- To submit a nomination (self-nominations are allowed), go to: https://bit.ly/AASLDAwards
Who do I contact if I have questions about the nominations process?
Contact Andrea Giovannucci, AASLD Director of Engagement at agiovannucci@aasld.org or call her at 703-740-2223.
What do I have to provide when nominating someone for an award?
You are asked to provide basic demographic information, at least one letter of recommendation, and the CV of the nominee.
Are Distinguished Awards only given to those who have been active in AASLD for many years?
While involvement in AASLD will be considered, Distinguished Award winners need not be AASLD members.
Are there any specific characteristics that the board looks for in a nominee?
Actually, just the opposite in that consistent with AASLD’s recognition that the study of liver disease encompasses health care professionals from many backgrounds we encourage a pool of nominees that reflect our richness as a community that includes individual and institutional diversity.
Could you remind me of the deadline to submit a nomination for a Distinguished Award?
The deadline is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, April 30, 2023, and a nomination can be completed at: https://bit.ly/AASLDAwards
Past Awardees
Distinguished Achievement Award
The Distinguished Achievement Award is given to an individual in honor of his or her sustained scientific contributions to the field of liver disease and the scientific foundations of hepatology. The award honors a sustained contribution rather than a single discovery or major achievement.
2022 Award Recipient
Gianfranco Alpini, PhD, FAASLD
Dr. Gianfranco Alpini (Hickam Endowed Chair of Gastroenterology) is the Director of the Indiana Center for Liver Research, and has authored ~350 publications, received multiple honors and recently served as Associate Editor of Hepatology. His seminal work identified heterogeneous cholangiocyte subpopulations that have independent molecular footprints and functions. This set up the basis of his career defining cholangiocytes as mediators of liver diseases via autocrine/paracrine neuroendocrine signaling, including melatonin and sensory peptides which he made key findings on. He is best known for identifying that the secretin/secretin receptor axis (expressed only by cholangiocytes) regulates bile physiology, ductular reaction and liver fibrosis and steatosis. His work that demonstrated cholangiocytes as regulators of hepatic homeostasis has significantly impacted the field.
Past Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients
- 2021: Raymond F. Schinazi, PhD, FAASLD
- 2020: Russell H. Wiesner, MD, FAASLD
- 2019: Jordi Bruix, MD
- 2018: Arun J. Sanyal, MD, FAASLD
- 2017: Mei-Hwei Chang, MD, FAASLD
- 2016: Scott L. Friedman, MD, FAASLD
- 2015: Charles M. Rice, PhD
- 2014: Jules L. Dienstag, MD
- 2013: Roger Williams, CBE, MD, FRCP, FRCS, FMedSci
- 2012: Anna Mae Diehl, MD
- 2011: Harvey J. Alter, MD
- 2010: Sum-Ping Lee, MD, PhD
- 2009: Nelson Fausto, MD
- 2008: Lawrie W. Powell, MD, PhD
- 2007: Juan Rodes, MD
- 2006: Neil Kaplowitz, MD
- 2005: E Jenny Heathcote, MD
Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award
The Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award is given in honor of the sustained service of clinician educators to AASLD or the liver community in general. The award recognizes the skills of outstanding clinicians and educators who have made momentous contributions to hepatology over an extended period.
2022 Award Recipient
Mauricio Lisker-Melman, MD, FAASLD
Dr. Lisker-Melman is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Hepatology Program in the Division of Gastroenterology at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM). He has worked at WUSM since 2000. He received his MD from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1980, and completed his training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran (INNSZ) in Mexico City (1980-85). Dr. Lisker-Melman was visiting associate and medical staff fellow in hepatology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Jay H. Hoofnagle (1986-89). After returning to Mexico, he became the head of the Hepatitis Laboratory at the INNSZ and associate professor of gastroenterology and Academic Counselor at the UNAM. He is a Founder member of the Mexican Liver Foundation. Dr. Lisker-Melman has held various positions on the Governing Boards of the Mexican Association of Internal Medicine, Mexican Board of Gastroenterology, Mexican Association of Hepatology, American Gastroenterological Association and American Liver Foundation. His major clinical research interests involve the diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis and the complications associated with chronic viral hepatitis and end stage liver disease.
Past Distinguished Clinician Educator/Mentor Award Recipients
- 2021: Keith D. Lindor, MD, FAASLD
- 2020: Michael R. Lucey, MD, FAASLD
- 2019: K. Rajender Reddy, MD, FAASLD
- 2018: Patrick S. Kamath, MD
- 2017: Brian J. McMahon, MD, FAASLD
- 2016: T. Jake Liang, MD, FAASLD
- 2015: Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao, MD, FAASLD
- 2014: William M. Lee, MD
- 2013: Arthur J. McCullough, MD
- 2012: Nathan M. (Tony) Bass, MD
- 2011: Ding-Shinn Chen, MD
- 2010: Norman D. Grace, MD
- 2009: Laurie Blendis, MD
- 2008: Albert J. Czaja, MD
Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award is given to an individual in honor of his or her sustained service to AASLD or the liver disease community in general. The award recognizes service provided to the community of hepatology researchers and clinicians over an extended period; service that is well above and beyond that provided by many members who serve on the Governing Board and Committees of AASLD.
2022 Award Recipient
Michael H Nathanson, MD, PhD, FAASLD
Dr. Michael H Nathanson is the Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at Yale University. He served a five-year term as Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology and is currently completing a three-year term as Chair of AASLD’s ethics committee. He has also served on AASLD’s nominating committee, abstract review committee, and basic research committee. Dr. Nathanson is the Director of the Yale Liver Center and the Director of Yale’s institutional training grant to support postdoctoral fellows conducting liver research. Dr. Nathanson founded and continues to co-direct the Klatskin (inpatient) liver service at Yale-New Haven Hospital. During his fifteen years as Chief of the Yale Digestive Diseases Section, he built a large and successful hepatology practice that includes condition-specific specialized programs. He is also staffing a liver clinic for underserved, uninsured and often undocumented patients with liver disease. He has served on numerous NIH and VA review panels, including several assignments as chair, and has authored over 170 publications, mostly on the role of calcium signaling in liver biology and cholestatic liver disease.
Past Distinguished Service Award Recipients
- 2021: John M. Vierling, MD, FACP, FAASLD, AGAF
- 2020: Donald M. Jensen, MD, FAASLD
- 2019: Adrian Reuben, MBBS, FRCP, FACG, FAASLD
- 2018: Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, MD, FACP, FAASLD
- 2017: John R. Senior, MD, FAASLD
- 2016: Gregory J. Gores, MD, FAASLD
- 2015: Elizabeth M Brunt, MD, FAASLD
- 2014: Sherrie H. Cathcart, CAE
- 2013: Frederick J. Suchy, MD
- 2012: Thomas D. Boyer, MD
- 2011: Anna S. Lok, MD
- 2010: Bruce R. Bacon, MD
- 2009: Joseph R. Bloomer, MD
- 2008: Andres T. Blei, MD
- 2007: William F. Balistreri , MD
- 2006: Allan W. Wolkoff , MD
- 2005: Leonard B. Seeff , MD
- 2004: Eugene R. Schiff, MD
- 2003: Paul D. Berk, MD
- 2002: Esteban Mezey, MD
- 2001: Anthony S Tavill, MD
- 2000: Willis C. Maddrey, MD
- 1999: Michael F Sorrell, MD
- 1998: Kamal G. Ishak, MD
- 1997: Steven Schenker, MD
- 1993: Sarah C. Kalser, PhD
- 1991: Carroll M. Leevy, MD
- 1990: Kunio Okuda, MD
- 1989: Herbert Falk, MD
- 1988: Dame Sheila Sherlock, MD, PhD
- 1984: Burton Combes, MD
- 1983: Hans Popper, MD
- 1981: Leon Schiff, MD
Distinguished Advocacy Service Award
The Distinguished Advocacy Service Award is given to an advocacy organization or individual in honor of sustained service to the liver disease community in general. The award recognizes service provided to the hepatology community over an extended period that raises awareness or garners public and federal legislative support and promotes liver health and quality patient care.
2022 Award Recipient
HoChong Gilles, DNP, FNP-BC
HoChong Gilles, DNP, FNP-BC, became an AASLD member in 2002. She served in numerous AASLD committees since 2010. She developed the Hepatology Associates SIG to support the career development and promote the role of Associates in hepatology after serving as Chair of the Associates Committee. She held various leadership positions at the regional and state levels. In 2020, HoChong received the AANP’s State Award for Nurse Practitioner Advocate Excellence for her legislative work in Virginia. During her service as an ex-officio member of the Governing Board, HoChong helped create the AF-AASLD designation and was inducted in the inaugural year in 2020.
Past Distinguished Advocacy Service Award Recipients
- 2021: Global Liver Institute Founder: Donna R. Cryer, JD
- 2020: Hepatitis B Foundation
Founders: Timothy Block, PhD and Joan Block, RN