Digestive Diseases News
Fall 2007

AGA Honors Freston, Podolsky for Distinguished Service, Achievement

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) honored two digestive diseases experts for their outstanding contributions to the field during Digestive Disease Week (DDW) held in Washington, DC, May 19 to 23. DDW is the world’s largest annual gathering of researchers and physicians in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal surgery.

James W. Freston, M.D., a member of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) National Advisory Council, received the 2007 Julius Friedenwald Medal for Distinguished Service for his lifelong contributions to the field of gastroenterology. The award, created in 1941, is the highest honor the AGA bestows on a member.

David K. Podolsky, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health-funded Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and external expert for the National Commission on Digestive Diseases, was awarded the AGA’s 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award. The AGA created the award to recognize individuals who have made a major specific accomplishment in clinical or basic research in gastroenterology.

Freston is professor of medicine emeritus and the Boehringer Ingelheim chair of clinical pharmacology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington. His contributions in clinical research have been in the area of clinical pharmacology of gastrointestinal drugs, with a focus on acid-related disorders.

Podolsky, the Mallinckrodt professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital, made many contributions to the field through the study of epithelial biology and mucosal immune defense.

NIDDK Director Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., publicly congratulated the awardees during his address to the AGA Presidential Plenary Session.

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NIH Publication No. 08–4552
November 2007