2021 AASLD Foundation DDW Abstract Award Recipients

AASLD Foundation Abstract Awards recognize excellence and promote the professional development of early career investigators.

Congratulations to this year’s 11 investigators who will present their award-winning abstracts at Digestive Disease Week May 21-23, 2021.

Nabeel Wahid, MD, MA   
Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Abstract Title: ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MEDICAID EXPANSION UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AND RACIAL-, ETHNIC-, AND GENDER-RELATED DISPARITIES IN HEPATITIS C VIRUS MORTALITY
Mentor: Russell Rosenblatt, MD, MS

Heidi Ahmed, MD    
Boston University Medical Center
Abstract Title: THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HEPATIC STEATOSIS AND INCIDENT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN A US MULTI-COHORT STUDY
Mentor: Michelle Long, MD

Joseh C. Ahn, MD    
Mayo Clinic, Rochester
Abstract Title: DEEP LEARNING BASED AI-ECG-CIRRHOSIS (ACE) SCORE ACCURATELY PREDICTS CIRRHOSIS AND GAUGES ITS SEVERITY
Mentor: Douglas A. Simonetto, MD and Vijay H. Shah, MD

Wael Al-Yaman, MD    
Cleveland Clinic
Abstract Title: CHEMOPREVENTIVE EFFECT OF STATIN ON HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN NON-ALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS PATIENTS WITH CIRRHOSIS
Mentor: Arthur McCullough, MD

Lixian Chen, PhD    
Indiana University
Abstract Title: DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF MELATONIN AND IL-33/ST-2/NFκB SIGNALING ON MAST CELL-INDUCED PRIMARY SCLEROSING CHOLANGITIS (PSC)
Mentor: Heather Francis, PhD

Lindsey Kennedy, PhD    
Indiana University
Abstract Title: LONG-TERM SECRETIN TREATMENT RESTORES THE DUCTULO-CANALICULAR JUNCTIONS (DCJ) AND AMELIORATES BILIARY DAMAGE AND LIVER FIBROSIS IN A MODEL OF LATE-STAGE PRIMARY BILIARY CHOLANGITIS (PBC)
Mentor: Gianfranco Alpini, PhD

Hyunseok Kim, MD, MPH, PhD    
Baylor College of Medicine
Abstract Title: COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF PREDICTION MODELS OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS-RELATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN THE UNITED STATES POPULATION
Mentor: Fasiha Kanwal, MD, MSHS

Michael Li, MD    
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Abstract Title: EFFECT OF CORTICOSTEROID DOSING ON OUTCOMES IN HIGH-GRADE IMMUNE CHECKPOINT INHIBITOR HEPATITIS
Mentor: Stephen D. Zucker, MD and Shilpa Grover, MD, MPH

Andy Tien, MD, MS    
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
Abstract Title: INCIDENCE AND MORTALITY OF COVID-19 IN POST-LIVER TRANSPLANT PATIENTS IN A LARGE INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
Mentor: Amandeep Sahota, MD, MS

Jennifer Wang, MD    
University of Chicago
Abstract Title: RAISING HOPE: IMPROVED OUTCOMES FOR HIV/HCV CO-INFECTED LIVER TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS IN THE DIRECT-ACTING ANTIVIRAL ERA
Mentor: John Fung, MD, PhD

Nan Wu, MD
Indiana University
Abstract Title: KNOCKDOWN OF THE MT1 MELATONIN RECEPTOR AMELIORATES THE PHENOTYPES OF THE MDR2-/- MOUSE MODEL OF PRIMARY SCLEROSING CHOLANGITIS (PSC) BY DOWNREGULATION OF ORPHAN GPR50 RECEPTOR-PROMOTED CONSTITUTIVE TGF-β1 RECEPTOR SIGNALING
Mentor: Gianfranco Alpini, PhD