Each year, the Charles Van Way III Nutrition Research Discoveries Symposium and Celebration brings together research grant recipients and leaders in nutrition support research. The program features former grant recipients presenting their work and sharing how Foundation grants have shaped their careers. The celebration also recognizes the George Blackburn Research Mentorship Award winner, followed by remarks from representatives of each grant program and recognition of the new recipients.
“My activities in ASPEN have been a constant anchor for my often-changing professional life. While my primary clinical interest has always been general and thoracic surgery, my work in nutrition has been a major part of my professional life.”
– Charles Van Way III, MD, “My Story,” Missouri Medicine (2024)
Dr. Charles Van Way III, for whom the symposium and celebration is named, is a professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He continues to work part-time as medical director of the Metabolic Support Service at University Health Truman Medical Center.
Dr. Van Way’s involvement with ASPEN began in 1985, when he chaired the organizing committee for the Colorado Chapter of ASPEN and went on to serve as that chapter’s first president. He then moved into national leadership, serving as a director-at-large on the ASPEN Board from 1987 to 1989, chairing the Committee on Information Technology, serving on the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nutrition Research, and serving twice on the Nominating Committee.
He returned to the ASPEN Board of Directors from 2007 to 2016, was elected vice president in 2008, and served as ASPEN’s 35th president in 2010. He was named a Fellow of ASPEN in 2012. True to form, Dr. Van Way’s service didn’t end with his ASPEN presidency. The moment his term concluded, he took up the gavel as president of the Rhoads Research Foundation, a position he held for five years. He went on to chair the Endowment Campaign Committee from 2016 to 2019 and remains active on the Development Committee today. He has directed major research programs, conducted his own clinical studies in nutrition support, and been a steady advocate for research funding at the national level. In recognition of his enduring commitment to the Foundation, the library in the ASPEN office is named in his honor.
In March 2024, ASPEN honored Dr. Van Way with its Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his lifelong contributions as a researcher, practitioner, and leader who championed parenteral nutrition, along with his continued service to the organization. In his own words: “My activities in ASPEN have been a constant anchor for my often-changing professional life. While my primary clinical interest has always been general and thoracic surgery, my work in nutrition has been a major part of my professional life.”
Dr. Van Way’s leadership extends well beyond ASPEN: he has served as president of the Missouri Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Metropolitan Medical Society of Greater Kansas City, and the Missouri State Medical Association, and he retired as a colonel from the Army Reserve after 25 years of service, earning the Legion of Merit. Alongside his continued clinical work and ASPEN service, he volunteers at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, lectures on military medicine, and broadcasts as an amateur radio operator over the museum’s WW1USA station.
Foundation Grant Recipients at ASPEN26
Grant recipients presented their research during the Charles Van Way III Nutrition Research Discoveries Symposium and Celebration. Watch the full symposium and celebration.
2026 Symposium and Celebration
The Road to Measurable Outcomes in Perioperative Nutrition
Krista Haines, DO, Assistant Professor of Surgery , Duke University School of Medicine; Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences , Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
The Impact of Microbiome-targeted Prehabilitation on Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Progression
Richard Jacobson, MD, Assistant Professor , University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
2025 Symposium and Celebration
The Role of Probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in Neonatal Short Bowel Syndrome to Promote Adaptation and Improve Metabolic Function Studied in Piglets
Mirielle Pauline, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Effects of Essential Amino Acid-Only Nutrition (EEA) on Non-EEA Metabolism During Sepsis Recovery
Gabriella Ten Have, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Research in Aging & Longevity, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
2024 Symposium and Celebration
Optimal Lipid Emulsion Choice in Children Undergoing Intestinal Rehabilitation
Vikram Raghu, MD, MS, Clinical Instructor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh; Pediatric Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Potential Mechanisms Behind Infant Benefits Seen With Human Milk Feeding
Yimin Chen, PhD, RDN, Assistant Professor of Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
2023 Symposium and Celebration
Remote Research and Clinical Trials in Nutrition Support
Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, Instructor in Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School; Research Staff, Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Gastrointestinal Dysfunction in Critical Illness
Enid Martinez, MD, Associate in Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Is High-dose Intravenous B12 in Septic Shock the New Kid on the (Resuscitation) Block?
Jayshil Patel, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
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