Recognition Awards
Recognition Award Recipients
The 2025 awards cycle is closed - stay tuned for details about our 2026 awards cycle.
2024 Pioneer Award: Igal Kam, MD
Igal Kam, MD is the Head of the Division of Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Liver Transplant Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His journey in medicine began at the University of Pisa in 1969, before attending the Institute of Technology Israel, where he received his MD degree in 1976.
He completed his Fellowship in Organ Transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he studied under transplant pioneer, Thomas E. Starzl, MD, PhD.
Francis Moore Excellence in Mentorship in the Field of Transplantation Surgery Award
Devin Eckhoff, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Dr. Eckhoff holds the Peter Medawar Professorship of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and serves as the Chief of the Transplantation Division and Director of the Transplant Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His surgical training and fellowships in transplant research and clinical transplantation were completed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before his tenure in Boston, he held various leadership roles in transplant surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 2003 to 2020.
Dr. Eckhoff has dedicated his life to increasing access to transplantation. His research has consequently focused on innovative strategies to address the organ shortage -- by studying how to expand the use of marginal organs, by identifying targets to mitigate ischemia/reperfusion injury, by developing protocols to improve donor management, and by exploring alternative organ sources, notably through work with genetically engineered organs. This pioneering work in xenotransplantation was awarded an over $10 million dollar grant from United Therapeutics and led to the creation of the Xenotransplant Center at UAB.
Through his administrative leadership, UAB established one of the first hospital-based organ recovery centers – an effort that greatly improved organ recoveries from willing donors. With this experience, he helped establish a donor recovery center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for New England, set to open in June 2024.
Recognizing that his impact of expanding access to transplantation could be realized most through his legacy left in future surgeons and trainees, Dr. Eckhoff has mentored 15 clinical transplant fellows – many who have gone on to lead several programs throughout the US. He has also mentored numerous medical students and residents who have pursued careers in transplantation. His commitment to educating the next generation of surgeons is a key aspect of his career.
Pipeline Award
Rachel C. Forbes, MD, MBA
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, currently serves at the Division Chief of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation and Surgical Director of the Living Kidney Donor Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, as well as having an appointment at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and Nashville Veterans Affair Hospital. She completed her fellowship at the Ohio State University and is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care with clinic interests in kidney and pancreas transplant. Her academic interests in improving access to transplantation, operational efficiency, and training of the next generation of transplant surgeons including being the ASTS Abdominal Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery Fellowship Program Director. She currently serves at the Chair of the ASTS Membership and Workforce Committee and recently finished a term as the Chair of the UNOS Pancreas Committee.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
Paulo Martins, MD, PhD, FAST, FEBS, FACS
University of Massachusetts
Paulo Martins MD, PhD, FAST, FEBS, FACS is a transplant surgeon (Associate Professor of Surgery) and lead of the transplant lab focused on liver preservation at University of Massachusetts, USA. He graduated from medical school in Brazil. He finished his PhD in transplant immunology at the University of Berlin-Germany in 2005 with “Summa cum Laude” He completed a post-doc research fellowship at Harvard University, followed by a clinical transplant fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2013, Dr. Martins has been working as a transplant Surgeon at the University of Massachusetts. He has a total of 157 peer-reviewed publications (with over 5,800 citations, and his H-index is 34), and five of his papers in 2022 were on journal cover pages. He is editor of two textbooks, is author of 16 book chapters. In 2015 he obtained American citizenship based on merit- EB1 National interest waiver. During his career he has obtained several research awards (including the ILTS rising star award, ASTS vanguard award, ASTS rising star and ASTS midlevel award, AST basic science award, an AASLD grant, the Portuguese-American Scientific leadership award, Alpha Omega Alpha honor society award) and several research grants. He has an International Patent application on siRNA treatment during organ machine perfusion.
Besides his basic science focus he obtained impact at a national and international level regarding diversity, equity and inclusion issues, especially organ access equity (minorities, cognitively impaired people). He is Involved in several local and national diversity, Equity, and inclusion initiatives. He is the past chair of UNOS Minority Affairs Committee chair and past chair of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons Diversity committee. He has several lectures and academic peer-reviewed publications in this area, including a position statement from the European Society of Transplantation. He was six years at the ASTS diversity committee and was part of the ASTS Bold against racism taskforce. During his term as the chair of the UNOS/OPTN minority affairs committee he spearheaded the proposal to eliminate the eGFR race coefficient in kidney transplant allocation which led to a national policy change to remove barriers for African Americans recipients that have been historically disadvantaged. Dr. Martins’ work on health equity has been featured on several media outlets including USA Today and Scripps TV. He was nominated by the dean of the University of Massachusetts for the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society award which is consider a high achievement for diversity issues. In addition, he was recently included in the Who is Who in America list.
Rising Stars in Transplantation Surgery Award
Ramesh K. Batra, MBBS, MA, FRCS
Yale University
Dr. Ramesh K. Batra is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Yale University, Professor of Applied Ethics at Fairfield University, and functions as the Surgical Director of liver transplantation at the Yale transplant center. He pursued his transplant fellowship in London, U.K. in 2010 on the foundation of vascular surgery training, specializing in both adult and pediatric transplantation at the Royal Free and Great Ormond Street hospitals. Following this, he relocated to the USA with his wife and one-year-old daughter to undertake a fellowship in liver-kidney-pancreas transplantation at the Mayo Clinic and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. It was during this time that he and his family made the choice to establish the U.S. as their home, intending to nurture their family while also championing transplantation and academia in the United States.
As a surgeon-scientist, Dr. Batra is making notable strides in the field of living donor liver transplantation, simultaneously championing the delicate ethical equilibrium of double equipoise in his capacity as an Ethicist. Winner of the 2020 Academic Development Award for his research titled 'Striking a balance for ethical and shared decision-making in living liver donation, a step towards the double equipoise”, attests to the aforementioned role. Additionally, his receipt of the 2022 Yale Innovation Grant highlights his utilization of cutting-edge deep machine learning models to enhance organ donation practices specially in the arena of DCD organ donation, is perfectly timed with innovative machine perfusion and NRP practices. Deep machine learning to improve outcomes for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, upholding Utility and the Final Rule further testifies his complimentary research theme of Artificial Intelligence and Ethics, a rare but much needed combination. His accolades extend to multiple academic awards, including the Jr. Investigator Award of the ASTS, alongside active involvement in committees of UNOS, ASTS, and AASLD while delivering invited lectureships.
Dr. Batra unequivocally embodies the tripartite mission; balancing roles as a surgeon-scientist-educator, he finds time for his passion of teaching and directs the 'Ethics of Healthcare' course for 60 undergraduate students each year (Fall and Spring semester) at the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University. Harnessing the power of these Three Pillars, he aims to transcend the boundaries of academia and reshape the ethical landscape of emerging technologies while making healthcare more efficient, technological advanced and ethically sound.
Andrew S. Barbas, MD
Duke University
Dr. Barbas is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Duke University, with a clinical practice focused on abdominal transplant and hepatobiliary surgery. His primary research interest involves the utilization of ex-vivo organ perfusion to improve the function of high risk donor organs.
Vanguard Prize
Hunter B Moore, MD, PhD
University of Colorado
Dr Moore is an NIH funded transplant surgeon at the Advent Health Transplant institute. He has published over 200 manuscripts. His current clinical practice includes liver and kidney transplantation in addition to hepatobiliary surgery. He was a prior ASTS Veloxis Fellowship in Transplantation grant award winner which launched his research career focusing on the coagulation system and organ function. His current research interest revolves around cellular mediated fibrinolysis and the role of microvascular fibrin in organ recovery following transplantation. Dr Moore currently serves on the Surgeon Scientist Committee to help promote translational research endeavors of the ASTS community.
Joshua Weiner, MD
New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Joshua Weiner is the Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Surgery at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is a multi-organ abdominal transplant surgeon with a special interest in intestinal and multivisceral transplantation, and he serves as the Surgical Director of intestinal transplantation at Columbia. He is also a principal investigator in the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology. His research interests include tolerance induction, T cell immunophenotyping in intestinal transplantation, xenotransplantation, and the role of the microbiome in organ rejection, and his work is supported by an NIAID K23 Award, a Department of Defense CDMRP grant, and several institutional grants. Dr. Weiner is the site PI of a multicenter combined kidney-bone marrow transplantation clinical trial, established the American Intestinal Transplantation Working Group, and serves on the ASTS Grants Committee and in leadership roles in the Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation Association and the AST Liver/Intestine Community of Practice. After college at Harvard University, he attended the Yale School of Medicine and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research fellow in Dr. David Sachs’ transplant immunology laboratory. He went on to general surgery residency at Columbia, where he also performed a postdoctoral fellowship working with Drs. Megan Sykes and Adam Griesemer. After residency, he completed abdominal organ transplant/HPB fellowship at Georgetown before returning to faculty at Columbia.
Advanced Transplant Provider Award
Emily A. Herriman, ANP-BC
Michigan Medicine
Emily Herriman is a board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in abdominal transplant surgery at Michigan Medicine. She completed undergraduate training at University of Michigan receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Her nursing career began at Michigan Medicine in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. After several years practicing as a nurse, she attended Madonna University where she graduated with her Master of Science in Nursing degree. Time spent working with transplant patients after complex liver and hepatobiliary surgeries as a nurse lead her to a career as a nurse practitioner in transplant. She first worked with transplant nephrology then moved to transplant surgery where she has been practicing for the past 10 years. Clinical appointment includes providing pre and post operative care for living liver and kidney donors and their recipients along with post operative care of deceased donor liver, kidney, and pancreas transplant recipients. She serves on many internal transplant committees with a commitment to improving quality, maintaining protocols, and transplant standards. In 2022 she completed the requirements to achieve the Master level nurse practitioner designation within the Michigan Medicine Professional Practice Ladder. As a clinical adjunct faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, she precepts nurse practitioner students, several of which have gone on to further their careers in transplant. Research interests include impact of advanced practice providers on transplant outcomes and on non-operative resident education. She is an active member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. Past service on the Advanced Transplant Provider Committee included assisting in development of the Advanced Transplant Provider Grant and creating scholarships for Advanced Transplant Providers to attend the Leadership Development and Financial Bootcamp courses. Outside transplant, Emily is supported by her husband Scott and busy with their three children Jack, Max, and Isabella. Her favorite spot to relax and vacation is Higgins Lake, Michigan with her family.
Ian S. Jaffe, BS
New York University
Ian Jaffe is a fourth year MD/MSCI student at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate education at Duke University, where he was a Robertson Scholar. During his medical education, Ian discovered his passion for caring for transplant candidates and recipients. At NYU, Ian works with the Xenotransplant Research Group to conduct pre-clinical decedent model studies. He is also a trainee in the Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR), where he works on registry-based studies. Under the mentorship of Dr. Bonnie Lonze and the outstanding faculties in the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, XRG, and C-STAR, Ian is an aspiring transplant surgeon-scientist. His current research interests include xenotransplantation, desensitization, and precision immunosuppression. His goal is to enhance access, equity, outcomes, and overall patient experience in transplant surgery by combining clinical practice, research, and teaching.
Rachel I. Todd, BA
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Rachel Todd is a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai currently completing a one-year research fellowship with the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute’s Organ Perfusion Unit. She completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton University, where she studied Spanish and Latin American Studies alongside her pre-medical requirements. She took one gap year working for a child welfare agency in Brooklyn that primarily liases with Latino families.
At ISMMS, Rachel co-leads the Transplant Surgery Interest Group and serves as an instructor for a surgical skills course. Her current fellowship research centers around normothermic machine perfusion both in clinical practice and as a translational research platform. Outside of school, Rachel is an avid rock climber, baker, and gardening enthusiast.
Jacqueline Kim, MD, MSCI
NYU Langone Health
Jackie Kim is a general surgery resident at NYU Langone Health and postdoctoral research fellow at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Adam Griesemer. She received a BA in History from Yale University, and an MD and MS in Clinical Investigation at NYU School of Medicine. Her professional interests are in abdominal transplant surgery, and she aspires to enter academic medicine as a transplant surgeon-scientist. Her current research includes studying the immunobiology of xenotransplantation using the decedent model and using national transplant registry data to optimize use of human cadaveric and living donor organs in the existing donor pool.
Jes M Sanders, MD
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Jes Sanders is a general surgery resident at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who is currently completing his 2 year research fellowship within the Comprehensive Transplant Center of Northwestern University. He completed his undergraduate at the University of Arkansas and attended medical school at Northwestern University. His research interests include the development of tolerance induction strategies utilizing antigen-specific regulatory T cells and the study of alloreactive T cell repertoires in transplant recipients over time. He is also interested in expanding the use of machine perfusion in liver transplantation and is studying outcomes of recipients receiving livers from extended criteria donors after machine perfusion. Jes is an aspiring transplant surgeon scientist with a particular focus in immunology and tolerance.
Lindsay Powell, MSN, ACNPC-AG, FNP-C
Duke University Hospital
Lindsay Powell began her career as a pediatric nurse before obtaining her Master of Science in Nursing, with dual certifications in Family and Acute Care. She has been a nurse practitioner at Duke University Hospital for over 7 years on the adult abdominal transplant surgery team, where she is the APP team lead. Lindsay previously served on the ASTS ATP committee and currently serves on the ASTS Fellowship Training committee. She is enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice at UNC Chapel Hill and will graduate this May. In addition to her clinical practice, she is passionate about cultivating the role of APPs in the field of transplantation. She is the co-director for a national annual Duke Transplant APP Bootcamp educational program. As a Duke Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Fellow, she led a health transformation project aimed to improve APP career development and retention. Lindsay is currently involved in research evaluating burnout and wellbeing among transplant APPs.