The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation awarded Sherman Prizes to Stephan Targan, MD, Lee Denson, MD and Heidi Drescher, MMS, PA-C.
Dr. Targan is the director of the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Denson is the director of the Schubert-Martin IBD Center at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Ms. Drescher is a physician’s assistant in Missoula, Mont.
The Sherman Prize recognizes individuals who make “exceptional and pioneering” contributions to the fight against Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Drs. Targan and Denson were each awarded $100,000. Ms. Drescher was awarded $25,000.
In a release, the Sherman Foundation bestowed the awards on Drs. Targan and Denson for their “significant achievements in advancing research and innovative care models that have improved the health and wellness of millions of Americans living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.”
Ms. Drescher was honored for her “relentless dedication to ensuring her rural, underserved patients benefit from best practices in inflammatory bowel disease care.”
Becker’s ASC Review interviewed Dr. Targan, Dr. Denson and Ms. Drescher about the awards and their plans for the funding.
“This is a way to continue to prime the pump,” Dr. Targan says. “This prize will be used to fund and advance extremely promising research to identify patients with certain subtypes of IBD and design drugs specifically to treat them.”
