Michael Gershon Wins FNM Lifetime Achievement Award

We are pleased to announce that Michael Gershon, professor of pathology and cell biology, received Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation of Societies of Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Five societies met internationally and voted to present the award to Dr. Gershon.  He should have received the award in 2020, but due to the pandemic, the meeting at which the award was to be given was postponed and the award was presented to him at a virtual ceremony in April 2021.  The societies represented are the Australasian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, the Asian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, and the Latin American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society.

Dr. Gershon has been called the “father of neurogastroenterology” because, in addition to his seminal work on neuronal control of gastrointestinal (GI) behavior and development of the enteric nervous system (ENS), his classic trade book, The Second Brain, has made physicians, scientists, and the lay public aware of the significance of the unique ability of the ENS to regulate GI activity in the absence of input from the brain and spinal cord. Dr. Gershon has published almost 400 peer-reviewed papers. Major contributions, which have relevance to disorders of GI motility, including irritable bowel syndrome, include identification of serotonin as a GI neurotransmitter and the initial observation in the gut of intrinsic sensory nerve cells that trigger propulsive motor activity.

Congratulations to Dr. Gershon!