Three researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital recently won all of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America’s achievement awards for 2014. This is the first time in the history of the CFF that researchers from one institution won all three major awards that the foundation grants annually.
Marjorie Merrick, the Vice President of Research Special Projects at Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, said in a press release: “This is the first time in the history of the award that all three winners are from the same medical institution. And it seems quite fitting that they all are from Mount Sinai, where Crohn’s disease was first described by Dr. Burrill B. Crohn, a Mount Sinai physician, and where groundbreaking research and treatment for Crohn’s continues today.”
Crohn’s disease was named after Dr. Burrill Crohn, who also practiced medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America started at Mount Sinai in 1967 as well thanks to Dr. Henry D. Janowitz, whose name is used for one of the honors — the Henry D. Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award in IBD.
Bruce Sands, MD, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said: “We are absolutely delighted that the CCFA has chosen to recognize our Mount Sinai colleagues, Drs. Sachar, Cho and Colombel, for their outstanding contributions, innovation and leadership in IBD. These awards recognize not only their profound individual contributions to this area, but also Mount Sinai’s ongoing contributions to understanding these complex and difficult diseases.”
Representatives from the research and medicinal communities are invited each year to nominate other scientists and physicians whose work is considered to be particularly relevant or distinct. “Winners are chosen by a blinded panel of members of CCFA’s National Scientific Advisory Committee,” as explained in a press release. The ceremony took place during the CCFA’s annual Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Conference, held in Orlando, Florida between December 4 and 6.
The winners of the 2014 Scientific Achievement Awards are: David B. Sachar for the Henry D. Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award in IBD; Jean-Frédéric Colombel for the Scientific Achievement in IBD Clinical Research; and Judy H. Cho for the Scientific Achievement in Basic IBD Research. Dr. Cho is the first woman to ever win this award.
Caren Heller, CCFA’s Chief Scientific Officer, noted: “On behalf of the millions of IBD patients worldwide, we extend heartfelt congratulations and thanks to these winners for their courage, innovation and vision as leaders in the IBD scientific community. Their significant efforts have moved IBD research and patient care in directions that ultimately improve the quality of life for patients of all ages and their families.”