ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2023 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium Merit Awards.   

These distinguished awards recognize first authors on top-ranking abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium on January 19 – 21, 2023, in San Francisco, CA.  

These 30 oncology professionals are recognized for their respective field and research advancements within the cancer care community:    

• Ali Alqahtani, MD, Georgetown University Medical Center 
• Ahsan Ayaz, MBBS, Mayo Clinic 
• Zainab Aziz, Columbia University Irving Medical Center 
• Alexej Ballhausen, MD, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health 
• Neal Bhutiani, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 
• Timothy J. Brown, MD, University of Pennsylvania 
• Jeremy Chang, MD, University of California, San Diego 
• Darren Cowzer, MBBCh, MSc, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
• Madhulika Eluri, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 
• Ricardo J. Estrada-Mendizabal, MD, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud 
• Claudia A.M Fulgenzi, MD, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital 
• Brendon Fusco, MD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey 
• Marjorie Hoang, BSc, Duke-NUS Medical School 
• Jaewon Hyung, MD, University of Ulsan College of Medicine 
• Thejus Jayakrishnan, MD, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center 
• Fergus Keane, MBChB, MA, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
• Dong Kim, MD, Fox Chase Cancer Center 
• Eric Michael Lander, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center 
• Mir Lim, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center 
• Lisa Liu, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System 
• Caroline Medin, MD, Emory University 
• Gilbert Z. Murimwa, MD, MS, UT Southwestern Medical Center 
• Chengwei Peng, MD, New York University 
• Bushra Shariff, MD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute 
• Susanna Clare Slater, MBChB, MRCP, The Royal Marsden Hospital 
• Joao Paulo Solar Vasconcelos, MD, BC Cancer, Vancouver Cancer Centre 
• Tin-Yun Tang, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 
• Emilie A.K. Warren, MD, Emory University 
• Christopher Williams, MBChB, MRCP, Leeds Cancer Centre 
• Xianghui Zou, MD, PhD, North Shore University Hospital & Long Island Jewish Medical Center 

The 2023 Conquer Cancer Merit Awards are supported by:  

Anonymous, ASCO Employees, Association of Northern California Oncologists, AstraZeneca, Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Blayney, Breast Cancer Research Foundation®, Bristol Myers Squibb, Stephen A. Cannistra, MD, Jonathan K. and Cora Y. Cho Charitable Fund, Friends, Family, and Colleagues of Dr. Cecil "Pete" Coggins, Michael Craig Cox, PharmD, MHS, BCOP, Trailblazing patient Mark A. Crafts and Generous Supporters of Team Crafty, Bill and Karen Dahut, Eisai Inc., Estate of Darla C. Ellis, Epiphany Partners, Inc., Flatiron Health, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Oncology, Harborside, Friends, Colleagues, and Family of Joe Hogan, Kimberly Irvine, Nicole M. Kuderer, MD and Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, FASCO, Natasha B. Leighl, MD, FASCO, William T. Leslie, MD, Loxo Oncology Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, Maryland/DC Society of Clinical Oncology, Friends and Colleagues of Theresa Mays, Therese Marie Mulvey, MD, FASCO, Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman, New Rhein Healthcare, LLC, Friends and Colleagues of Dr. Larry Norton, Dr. Kathleen Pritchard Medicine Professional Corporation, The QuadW Foundation, Gabrielle Betty Rocque, MD, MSPH, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FASCO, Stephen A. Sherwin, MD, Drs. Rachna and Puneet Shroff, The Sontag Foundation, Supporters of Innovations and Research in Medical Education, Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Nizar M. Tannir, MD, Anthony and Marilyn Tolcher, and Dr. Michael and Deborah Troner (This listing is current as of January 4, 2023.)