Physicians Receive National Honors
Balistreri Receives Distinguished Service Award
William Balistreri, MD, medical director of the Pediatric Liver Care Center at Cincinnati Children's, is the first and only pediatric gastroenterologist in nearly three decades to win the Distinguished Service Award by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD).
The Distinguished Service Award is the highest bestowed by the AASLD, a leading organization for liver disease, health and research worldwide. "The AASLD was privileged to honor Dr. Balistreri with its distinguished service award in honor of his enormous scientific contributions to the diagnosis and management of children with liver diseases, his tireless advocacy for children with liver diseases, and his life-long engagement in AASLD committees and meetings, and with its governing board, including having served as its president," said Gregory Gores, MD, current president of AASLD.
Dr. Balistreri joined Cincinnati Children's in 1978 and served as director of the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition from 1980 to 2005. He stepped down as director after 25 years to lead the Pediatric Liver Care Center, the Liver Transplantation Program and become associate chair for subspecialty training for the Department of Pediatrics.
Azizkhan Elected to Halsted Society
Richard Azizkhan, MD, surgeon-in-chief and director of pediatric surgery at Cincinnati Children's, has been elected to the Halsted Society, a prestigious society with a limited active membership of 75 surgeons nationwide.
"Rich's election to membership indicates the esteem in which he is held and enriches the Halsted Society a great deal," says Thomas Krummel, MD, chair of the department of surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and secretary-treasurer of the Halsted Society.
As an international advocate for children's rights and health, Dr. Azizkhan has made significant clinical and basic research contributions in angiogenesis and vascular malformations, lung development, airway reconstruction, solid tumors, trauma and injury prevention. He also has helped Cincinnati Children's develop a major international medical education exchange program with Bosnia and Croatia.
Farell, Moga Honored by AAP
The American Academy of Pediatrics has named Cincinnati Children's physicians Michael Farrell, MD, FAAP, and Michael-Alice Moga, MD, as recipients of its 2007 AAP Award.
Dr. Farrell, who is chief of staff at Cincinnati Children's and professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, was feted by the AAP's section on Gastroenterology and Nutrition. The AAP recognized him for being "an outstanding clinician, educator and scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition."
Dr. Moga was recognized by the AAP's section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery for her pediatric cardiology fellowship training. She is currently a third-year fellow at Cincinnati Children's with research focusing on the role of ventricular myosin isoforms in heart failure. Funds from this AAP award provide for an additional year of fellowship training dedicated to basic scientific or clinical research.
The awards were announced in the October 2007 edition of the AAP's journal, AAP News.
