Black receives award for hepatology research

Dennis Black, MD, CFRI Scientific Director and J. D. Buckman Professor of Pediatrics, is the lead investigator of a 12-center research study funded by the FDA Office of Orphan Product Development evaluating the role of the medication ursodeoxycholic acid in treating children with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disorder leading to end-stage liver disease with liver transplantation as the only proven effective treatment.

An abstract reporting the findings of the study was awarded the Gerard Odell Prize for Excellence in Pediatric Hepatology Research and selected for a platform presentation at the Annual North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) meeting. Gerard Odell, MD, a Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was a pediatric liver specialist and established the pediatric gastroenterology division at the University of Wisconsin.