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2014 NASPGHAN Distinguished Service Award Emily Senerth

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he NASPGHAN Distinguished Service Award is presented to an individual to recognize excellence and service to the field of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition by achieving national and/or international recognition in their field. The 2014 recipient was Dr Melvin B. Heyman.

Melvin B. Heyman, MD, MPH, was born and raised in San Francisco, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 with honors in economics and from medical school at UCLA in 1976. He completed a pediatric residency in 1979 at Los Angeles CountyUniversity of Southern California Medical Center, followed by a combined fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition and a master’s degree in public health in nutrition from the University of California, Los Angeles. In July 1981, Dr Heyman joined the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he has remained. He acquired additional experience in human nutrition research in a combined program at Tufts/New England Medical Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while on sabbatical in 1989. He became UCSF Division Chief of Gastroenterology (GI), Hepatology, and Nutrition in 1990 and in 1997 assumed directorship of the UCSF Pediatric GI/Nutrition T32 (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [NIDDK]), the longest-held pediatric GI T32 nationwide and the only one on the US west coast. He was appointed as Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at UCSF in 1994 and presently holds both the Anita Ow Wing and the Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Endowed Chairs. Mel is the consummate mentor, and the joy he derives from working with fellows, residents, medical students, and junior faculty is palpable. He was awarded a K24 grant from NIDDK in 2002 (renewed in 2007) and continues to devote significant time to career development of postdoctoral trainees. He also encourages nonphysician caregivers to expand their GI careers and was recognized by the Association of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Nurses, with an Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2010. Mel leads his division by example—taking call, performing procedures, and regularly driving long hours to outreach clinics in rural northern California. He also models how clinical practice can drive important research questions on GI and nutrition in children. Dr Heyman was among the first investigators to reveal the importance of nutrition support in sickle cell anemia and introduce procedures for diagnosis of hepatobiliary and pancreatic disorders Received January 23, 2015; accepted February 10, 2015. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Emily Senerth, Wolters Kluwer Health, Philadelphia, PA (e-mail: emily.senerth@wolters kluwer.com). The author reports no conflicts of interest. Copyright # 2015 by European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition DOI: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000000762

in infants and children. He presently participates in national and international multicenter investigations into the natural history of and novel treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pancreatitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Mel’s service to the field of pediatric gastroenterology is manifest in every aspect of his career. His engagement at local, regional, national, and international levels is driven by a belief that active medical societies can improve the lives of both patients and physicians. He has served on numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections, including the NIH-NIDDK C-Committee responsible for training grants and a recently formed review committee for F30/F32 applications. Throughout his career, Mel has been a strong advocate for federal support for fellowship training in pediatric subspecialties. He has served on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (SOGHN) since 1999, as its chair from 2005 to 2009. In terms of translating state-of-the-art research into clinical practice, he is the SOGHN representative to the Pediatric Academic Societies Planning Committee and has chaired and worked with the American Board of Pediatrics to shape the pediatric GI subboard. Honing his remarkable skill at encouraging various parties to collaborate, he presently reports to the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and the AAP as the SOGHN liaison to the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties. He has served as secretary/treasurer of Council of Pediatric Subspecialties, was elected vice chair in 2014, and will serve as chair in 2016. Locally, Mel established the UCSF IBD Center in 2003, then fulfilled a personal dream in 2005 by founding the IBD Summer Camp Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports Camp ‘‘Gut Busters’’ for children and adolescents with IBD in northern California. The camp, which Mel continues to oversee with support from his nurse practitioners, wife, and family, presently enrolls more than 140 participants annually. He has long-championed policies in support of school meals and physical education in the San Francisco Unified School District. In 2005, he was appointed to the Committee for Nutrition and Physical Activity for Children by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and has served as cochair of the Nutrition and Fitness Committee for the northern California AAP chapter. Mel’s service to NASPGHAN is particularly remarkable in the context of this award. He has been an active member since 1983, has chaired and participated in numerous NASPGHAN committees and programs, has served on the executive committee, and was nominated for president in 1996. He continues a 5-year commitment beginning in 2011 as editor-in-chief of the society’s Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. In addition to his editorial responsibilities, including journal management and selection of articles, he is presently working with international pediatric GI leaders to develop a future path for the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in an era of electronic publishing. Last, but by no means least, Mel is devoted to his wife Jody and his 3 sons. The entire Heyman clan shares regular adventures in the Bay Area and takes occasional trips to Lake Tahoe. He is an avid skier, tennis player (winning a tennis tournament with his late father), and unabashed Bay Area sports fan. You may have seen him at the recent NASPGHAN meetings rooting for his beloved San Francisco Giants to win the National League pennant—successfully, as with most things Mel touches.

576 JPGN  Volume 60, Number 5, May 2015 Copyright 2015 by ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

2014 NASPGHAN Distinguished Service Award.

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