Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award
Application Deadline
Award Amount
$4,000
Award Term
One year
Award Type
Travel
Career Development
Career Level
Fellows / Postdocs
View the 2025 request for applications [PDF].
Overview
The purpose of this award is to encourage the academic career of exceptional hepatology trainees. The Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award provides $4,000 in travel funds to fourth year Transplant Hepatology fellows or third year GI/Hepatology dual certification program fellows in accredited US, Canadian, or Mexican programs to attend The Liver Meeting® and one additional educational meeting (approved by the Research Awards Committee).
Awardees will also receive enhanced career development opportunities throughout their fellowship year, including participation as an ex officio member of an AASLD/AASLD Foundation Committee or SIG Steering Committee.
NAMED AWARDS
The following named awards of distinction are made possible through the generous support of donors committed to inspiring the next generation of hepatology leaders.
Anna S. Lok Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award
One successful candidate per year will be named as the Anna S. Lok Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award recipient, which includes an additional $26,000 in research support funding during their first faculty year at a North American academic institution.
Joseph R. Bloomer Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award
One successful candidate will be named as the Joseph R. Bloomer Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award recipient, which is honorific and does not include additional research support funding.
Kimberly A. Brown Advanced / Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award
One successful candidate per year will be named as the Kimberly A. Brown Advanced / Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award recipient, which is honorific and does not include additional research support funding. Priority for this award will be given to Alumni of the AASLD Foundation Emerging Liver Scholar program.
Ashwani K. Singal Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award
for Research in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease
One successful candidate per year will be named as the Ashwani K. Singal Advanced / Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award recipient, which is honorific and does not include additional research support funding. Priority for this award will be given to candidates who are in a 4th year Transplant Hepatology Fellowship program and have an interest in alcohol-associated liver disease research.
Vinay Sundaram Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award
One successful candidate per year will be named as the Vinay Sundaram Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award recipient, which is honorific and does not include additional research support funding. Priority for this award will be given to Alumni of the AASLD Foundation Emerging Liver Scholar program, with preference for those with a focus in clinical health services/outcomes research.
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Eligibility
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Award Details
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Selection Criteria
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How to Apply
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Application Resources
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CMS Open Payments Disclaimer
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for this award, the applicant must adhere to the following guidelines:
- The applicant must:
- Have been accepted to a U.S. ACGME approved (or Canadian/Mexican equivalent) transplant hepatology training program with a start date of July 1, 2025; or is a current/accepted fellow in an ACGME approved GI/Transplant Hepatology combined program who will start their 3rd/final year of fellowship on July 1, 2025.
- Be a member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) at the time of award application and maintain active membership for the duration of the award period.
- Have a faculty mentor who is active in hepatology at the applicant’s sponsoring institution and who is an AASLD member in good standing. Multiple applicants may apply with the same primary mentor for this program, but only one applicant will be funded per mentor for each award year.
- The institution/program where the Transplant Hepatology fellowship will take place must:
- Have a United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) or Canadian/Mexican equivalent approved liver transplant program, which must be in good standing and must perform at least ten liver transplantations per year.
- Have a full-time faculty member or members capable of teaching a curriculum with a broad base of knowledge in transplant medicine and hepatology.
- Provide training in living donor transplantation.
- Application limits:
- The AASLD Foundation will not fund multiple Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Awardees who share the same primary mentor or who are in the same department at an institutional training site per year/cycle.
- While there is no restriction on the number of applicants from the same institution, AASLD Foundation will not fund more than one applicant from each distinct department within an institutional training site per year/cycle.
- Mentors may be the primary mentor on more than one application for this program, but AASLD Foundation will not fund multiple applicants who share the same primary mentor in a single year/cycle. This applies even when the applicants are in different departments/training programs at their institution.
- Applicants for this program can apply to another Foundation award program in the same award year.
- The AASLD Foundation will not fund multiple Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Awardees who share the same primary mentor or who are in the same department at an institutional training site per year/cycle.
Award Details
Award Period: July 1, 2025– June 30, 2026.
Total Award Amount: $4,000*
- The award provides $4,000 travel support for the recipient to attend The Liver Meeting® and one additional educational meeting (subject to Committee approval, e.g., Digestive Disease Week, International Liver Congress, American Transplant Congress, or any course offered by AASLD) during their fellowship year.
- Awardees will receive complimentary registration for The Liver Meeting during their one-year grant term.
- Travel funds are paid to the individual awardee (not the sponsoring institution) on a reimbursement basis for actual travel expenses incurred. Detailed information on allowable travel expenses and reimbursement request guidelines can be viewed here.
- Unused travel funds at the end of the award term will be forfeited.
*One successful candidate per year will be named as the Anna S. Lok Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award recipient, which includes an additional award year with $26,000 in research support funding during their first faculty year at a North American academic institution.
- The research support funding may be used for the awardee's direct liver-related research expenditures. Funds may not be used for the PI's salary, capital equipment purchases, be directed to projects that are not liver-related, or support functions unrelated to the awardee's liver-related research.
- The Anna S. Lok Awardee will receive complimentary registration for The Liver Meeting during their additional grant year.
- Unexpended funds at the end of the award term must be promptly returned to AASLD Foundation.
Selection Criteria
Applications will be reviewed based on the written materials submitted. Incomplete applications and applications that fail to adhere strictly to the instructions (including the submission deadline and page limitations) will not be reviewed. All decisions are final.
Candidates will be evaluated on:
- Their background and professional potential of the applicant as an academic hepatologist (presentations at meetings, publications, etc.).
- Candidate statement reflecting strong academic career plan including planned research focus and mentorship plan if known.
- Demonstration, via the hypothetical specific aims page, of the candidate’s planned research focus, sound reasoning skills, understanding of scientific study design and approach, and grantsmanship.
How to Apply
The application deadline for this award is 11:59 pm Eastern time on February 3, 2025. Applications received after the deadline will not be reviewed.
- Download the 2025 RFA and prepare all components listed in the required documents section.
- The form on page 6 of the RFA must be completed and included as your application's cover page.
- Type responses where prompted and provide all requested signatures.
- Prepare your final application as a flattened, single PDF (no portfolios). PDFs cannot be locked or have any password protection. Applications that do not meet the requirements, in content or format, will not be reviewed.
- Assemble your application in the order listed in the required documents section of the program RFA.
- Name the PDF file as follows: 2025 AdvHep _Last name, first name (Example: 2025 AdvHep_Smith, Jane)
- Formatting:
- Include a header at the upper right corner of each page with your name (last name, first name), application year, and program name (2025 AdvHep Fellow Award).
- Use half-inch margins. Do not use lettering smaller than 10 point.
- Adhere to page limits and complete all sections.
- Submit your application at www.liverresearchawards.org. You will be sent an email confirmation that the application was received. If an email confirmation is not received in two (2) business days, please contact awards@aasld.org to confirm receipt.
Application Resources
CMS Open Payments Disclaimer
This funding program may receive support that could require reporting by a corporate supporter under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA). Reported information may appear on the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Open Payments Website and include such information as the grant amount, awardee name, NPI, and sponsoring institution name. To learn more about the PPSA and how to review reported information please visit the Open Payments Resources for Physicians and Teaching Hospitals.
QUESTIONS
Questions? Contact awards@aasld.org.
Return to Current Funding Opportunities
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The 2025 Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellow Award program is made possible through generous contributions from the Anna S. Lok Fund for Excellence in Research and Training, the Vinay Sundaram Legacy Fund, the Kimberly A. Brown Fund, the Singal Family Fund, the estate of Dr. Joseph R. Bloomer, and unrestricted donations from AASLD and donors to the AASLD Foundation.
