SAMUEL D. GROSS PRIZE

The Samuel D. Gross Prize was established by Samuel D. Gross (1805-1884), the founder of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, in his Will.  His Will provided $5,000 for a prize to be given every five years for the best original research in surgery by an American citizen.  The prize was initially awarded in 1895 and was $1,500, which was frequently used to publish the research in monograph form.  In 1988, the President of the Academy, Dr. Dominic DeLaurentis, announced that John F. Connelly and the John F. Connelly Foundation had supplemented the endowment with a contribution of $80,000.  This generous addition has enabled the prize to be increased to $5,000.  Candidates were originally solicited to submit their work for consideration.  Beginning in 1994 the prize winner has been selected from leading American surgical researchers without solicited submissions by the candidates. 

Winners of the Samuel D. Gross Prize 

 1895  “Inquiry into the Difficulties Encountered in the Reduction of Dislocations of the Hip.” –
 

     Dr. Oscar H. Allis, Philadelphia, PA

   
1902  “Treatment of Certain Malignant Growths by Excision of the External Carotids.” –
 

     Dr. Robert H. W. Dawbarn, New York, NY

   
1905  “ The Biology of the Micro-organisms of Actinomycosis.” –
       Dr. James Homer Wright, Boston, MA
   
1910 “ An Anatomical and Surgical Study of Fractures of the Lower End of the Humerus.” –
       Dr. Astley P. C. Ashurst, Philadelphia, PA
   
1915 “Surgery in the Treatment of Hodgkin’s Disease –
       Dr. John Lawrence Yates, Milwaukee, WI
   
1920  “Some Fundamental Considerations in the Treatment of Empyema Thoracis.” – 
 

     Dr. Evarts A. Graham, St. Louis, MO

   

1925         

“The Surgery of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.” –
       Dr. John Alexander, Saranac Lake, NY
   
1930 “Abnormal Arteriovenous Communications.” –
       Dr. Emile Holman, Stanford University, San Francisco, CA
   
1935 “The Therapeutic Problems in Bowel Obstruction.” –
       Dr. Owen H. Wangensteen, Minneapolis, MN
   
1940 “The Role of the Liver in Surgery.” –
       Dr. Frederick Fitzherbert Boyce, New Orleans, LA
   
1945 “Parenteral Alimentation in Surgery with Special Reference to Protein and Amino Acids.” –
       Dr. Robert Elman, St. Louis, MO
   
1950 “Localization of Brain Tumors with Radio-Active Agents.” –
       Dr. George E. Moore, Minneapolis, MN
   
1955 “Liquid Plasma – Its Safety and Usefulness in Shock and Hypoproteinemia.” –
       Dr. J. Garrott Allen, Chicago, ILL
   
1962 “The Pathogenesis of Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers.” –
       Dr. Lester Dragstedt, Gainesville, FL
   
1967 “Cholesterol Metabolism and Atherosclerosis as Influenced by Partial Small Bowel Intestinal Exclusion.” –
       Dr. Henry Buchwald, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
   
1972 “Hepatic Metabolism in Human Cirrhosis: The Effect of Portacaval Shunt on Liver and Brain Metabolism.” –
       Dr. Frederick A. Reichle, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
   
1979  “Simulation of Congenital Heart Disease in Fetal Lambs.” –
       Dr. Noel H. Fishman
   
1983 “The Application of Decision Sciences to Surgical Judgment.” –
       Dr. John R. Clarke, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
   
1987 “The Hemodynamics of Post-Shunt Neurological Deterioration: Analysis and Clinical Trial.” –
       Dr. Kaj Johansen, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
   
1992 “Adventitial Elastolysis and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation.” –
       Dr. John V. White, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
   
1994 “Mediators of Severe Inflamation” –
       Dr. Stephen F. Lowry, Cornell University Medical School, New York, NY
   
2000 “Angiogenesis” –
 

     Dr. Judah Folkman, Harvard University School of Medicine and Children’s

     Hospital of Boston, Boston, MA

   
2005 “Liver Transplantation” –
 

     Dr. Thomas Starzl, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA

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Top left photo (c) courtesy Thomas Jefferson University

 

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Phone:  (215) 233-9469; Email:  Philomena@academyofsurgery.org

 

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