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UPenn, UNC physicians receive CCFA 2015 IBD Scientific Achievement Awards
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ORLANDO — The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America awarded Gary R. Lichtenstein, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF, and Gary Wu, MD, both from University of Pennsylvania, and R. Balfour Sartor, MD, from University of North Carolina, with 2015 IBD Scientific Achievement Awards at AIBD 2015.
“Every year CCFA is proud to honor physicians and scientists who have made significant contributions to understanding Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and improving the quality of life of patient and their families,” Vance Gibbs, Chairman of CCFA’s national board of trustees, said during the awards presentation. “Members of the medical and scientific community are invited to nominate outstanding physicians and scientists for three separate awards. … Nominees may represent national involvement, chapter involvement, or represent an external force that has advanced CCFA’s mission while remaining true to the award’s intent.”
Caren Heller
“Lichtenstein, Wu, and Sartor are premier examples of physicians and researchers who are moving IBD research and patient care in directions that will ultimately improve the quality of life for patients of all ages and their families,” Caren Heller, MD, MBA, CCFA’s chief scientific officer, said in a press release. “We thank them for their courage, innovation, and vision as leaders in the IBD scientific community and congratulate them on receiving this honor.”
Scientific achievements
Lichtenstein, Healio Gastroenterology Peer Perspective Board member, director of the IBD Center and professor of medicine in the GI division at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, received the Scientific Achievement in IBD Clinical Research Award. His research focuses on investigational IBD therapies and the safety of current and future medical therapies, and he “has served as the national/international principal investigator evaluating novel agents for therapeutic trials in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease,” Gibbs said. Lichtenstein has been involved with CCFA since 1987, he added.
Wu, who received the Scientific Achievement in Basic IBD Research Award, is the Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology, associate chief for research in the division of gastroenterology, co-director of the Penn-CHOP Microbiome Program, associate director of the Joint Penn-CHOP Center for Digestive, Liver and Pancreatic Medicine and associate director of the Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Disease at University of Pennsylvania.
He is also an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians, chair of the NIH NIDDK-C Study Section, co-senior associate editor for Gastroenterology, chair of the intestinal disorders sections, member of the AGA Council, director and chair of the scientific advisory board for the AGA Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education, and chair of the Research Initiatives Committee for CCFA.
Lifetime achievement
Sartor, who received the Henry D. Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award, is the Midget Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina, director of the UNC Multidisciplinary IBD Center, co-director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, director of the Broad Research Medical Program at CCFA and director of the NIH-funded National Gnotobiotic Rodent Resource Center at UNC.
“His research focuses on developing and applying rodent models of chronic, immune-mediated intestinal inflammation relevant to IBD, investigating host-microbial interactions and performing clinically relevant translational studies of IBD patients,” Gibbs said. “He helped develop and support the now widely held theory that [Crohn’s disease] and UC are the result of overly aggressive T-cell responses to certain resident intestinal bacteria in genetically susceptible hosts.”
The NIH has funded Sartor’s research continuously over the past three decades, he has published more than 325 peer reviewed items in leading scientific journals, and from 2008 to 2014 he served as chief medical advisor to CCFA, Gibbs added. Sartor now directs the Broad Medical Research Program at CCFA.
“I’d … like to thank my many mentors … who helped open the doors and believed in me as I swam against the tide in understanding pathogenesis of IBD; UNC for allowing me to explore new areas without restrictions; and most importantly, the CCFA for the support that they’ve given me throughout my career, including the initial fellowship award in 1981 that allowed me to test an unconventional hypothesis,” Sartor said. “My only concern about accepting this award is you may think that I’m over the hill, but I pledge to this group that there’s plenty more to come.” – by Adam Leitenberger
Reference: Gibbs V, et al. Award ceremony. Presented at Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Dec. 10-12, 2015; Orlando, Fla.
Disclosures: Presenters and awardees report no relevant financial disclosures.