2027 Award Applications will be accepted June 15-August 19, 2026.
The ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation awards the George Blackburn Research Mentorship Award. Named in honor of Dr. George Blackburn, this award celebrates his commitment and generosity to the ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation and honors his academic and research mentorship.
Recipients will be awarded each year during a Foundation event at the annual ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference.
Criteria
- Be at least 10 years into his/her research and/or academic career.
- Research focus should relate to clinical nutrition, metabolism, and/or nutrition support.
- Be a member of ASPEN.
- Be an effective mentor.
- To nominate a colleague, please submit a letter of recommendation to ASPEN staff at emilyg@nutritioncare.org. Staff will then contact the nominee to alert them of the nomination and provide instructions for the nominee to complete the online application.
- To nominate yourself, please complete the online application.
All award nominees and applicants must complete the online application and include the following materials:
- Two supporting letters outlining the applicant’s research mentoring activities. Letters should describe the following qualities that make the applicant an outstanding research mentor:
- Highlight research accomplishments.
- How the mentor has actively encouraged inquiry, innovation, and created opportunities for trainees to conduct research.
- How the mentor has supported and influenced trainees’ educational and career paths (presentation and publication opportunities, planning for continued research and/or graduate studies, further academic positions).
- Provide examples of inspiration, encouragement, or challenge as well as any other attributes or actions that make this mentor truly exceptional.
- Applicant’s curriculum vitae.
- Completed evaluation forms of at least two mentees of the applicant. (Please do not include mentee CVs and make sure that the mentees completing evaluations are different from those providing nominating or supporting letters.)
- Complete list of past and present mentees with their topics of research, current status, and any progress made in the development of their research career.
Current ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation Board members and the ASPEN President are ineligible during their active terms.
Selection
Applications will be presented to a committee appointed by the Foundation President.
Award Recipients
2025 George Blackburn Research Mentorship Awardee
Tom Jaksic MD, PhD, FASPEN
W. Hardy Hendren Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Vice-Chair Pediatric Surgery, Boston Children’s Hospital
A message from Dr. Jaksic:
“It is a distinct honor to receive the George Blackburn Research Mentorship Award for 2025. Dr. George Blackburn, the second ASPEN president, was a true pioneer in the field of surgical metabolism. The nutritional support program he built with Dr. Bruce Bistrian was a paragon of excellence in interdisciplinary research, education and clinical care. I was fortunate to have been one of their fellows and am gratified to see that the inclusive model they fostered continues to be a foundational component of ASPEN.
In my own career, spanning over 30 years, I have been privileged to continuously supervise stellar research fellows and work with an incredible interdisciplinary team. Whatever I might have accomplished scientifically was largely due to their work. Professionally there is no greater pleasure than witnessing the tremendous success of my mentees and their ongoing contributions to ASPEN. I would sincerely like to thank them for nominating me for this award and the ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation for selecting me.”
2025 – Tom Jaksic, MD, PhD, FASPEN
2024 – Paul W. Wales, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, FASPEN
2023 – John Alverdy, MD
2022 – Justine Turner, MBBS, FRACP, PhD
2021 – Kenneth A. Kudsk, MD, FAACS, FCCM
2020 – Paul E. Wischmeyer, MD, EDIC
2019 – Samuel Klein, MD
2018 – John L. Rombeau, MD, FASPEN