Lectureships, Awards and Grants
APDWF / JGHFoundation LECTURESHIPS
The Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation (JGHFoundation) provides funding for the following lectureships to be delivered at the APDW Congress:
1. JGHFoundation/APDWF Okuda State of the Art Lectureship
2. JGHFoundation/APDWF Marshall & Warren Luminal Gastroenterology Lectureship
3. APDWF-JGHFoundation Emerging Leader Lectureship (Two per congress)
These Lectureships are administered by APDWF on behalf of JGHFoundation. The Terms & Conditions are available from the links below:
Click here to download the JGHFoundation-APDWF Named Lecture Guidelines
Click here to download the APDWF-JGHFoundation Emerging Leaders Lectureship Guidelines
APDWF AWARDS
Several awards are available to applicants from Asia Pacific countries who attend the APDW Congress.
The awards are sponsored by APDWF & JGHFoundation and are administered by the respective Local Organising Committee. The awards include:
1. APDWF / JGHFoundation Young Investigator's Awards
2. APDWF Poster Distinction Awards
A maximum of five (5) posters of distinction at USD 1,500 each shall be awarded.
The Terms & Conditions are available for download here
APDWF / JGHFoundation TRAVEL GRANTS
A maximum of 70 travel grants shall be offered to clinicians and scientists in the early stage of their career (up to 5 years following the completion of training in gastroenterology/ hepatology) to broaden their education and experiences in the field of gastroenterology/ hepatology.
The Terms & Conditions are available for download here
APDWF Educational Grants
The Federation has created an additional grant to support training and education program in the field of digestive disease through the Founder Members.
The project must be a joint program of at least 2 Founder Members (thereafter called “Applicant”). It is a Matching Grant, i.e. the Applicant must contribute the same amount of fund as the Federation.
Priority shall be given to fund projects that target:
- Young fellows age 40 years or below with potential to be groomed as future leaders
- “Minorities” (e.g., females, under-represented or resource-limited regions)
- Evolving technologies (e.g., AI, novel diagnostics, emerging tools)
Founder Member may go through the Guidelines and submit the Application Form shown on the attached to the attention of the Executive Director apdwf_secretariat@apdwcongress.org
APDWF Meritorious Award
Professor Masao Omata was conferred the second Asian Pacific Digestive Week Federation (APDWF) Meritorious Award at the APDW 2025. This prestigious recognition acknowledges individuals who have made substantial contributions to the consolidation and expansion of the Asian Pacific Digestive Week. The award specifically commends the significant impact an individual has had on fulfilling the objectives and advancing the work of the APDWF, particularly in the organization of high-caliber APDW meetings, one of the largest gathering of Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists.
In the ever-evolving world of hepatology, few names shine as brightly as Professor Masao Omata — a beacon of wisdom, humility, and purpose who is unmatched in intellect, compassion, and generosity of spirit.
Graduating from Chiba University in 1970, Masao trained under Professor Kunio Okuda before pursuing research in the U.S. at Yale and the University of Southern California. His landmark 1979 paper identifying the viral cause of hepatocellular carcinoma revolutionized liver cancer research and became a cornerstone of medical education. He later made groundbreaking discoveries, including linking the HBV pre-core mutant to fulminant hepatitis and identifying cccDNA as the key molecular reservoir of hepatitis B.
Appointed Chairman of Gastroenterology at the University of Tokyo in 1992—the first non-alumnus to do so—Masao built one of Japan’s most dynamic departments and mentored over 300 hepatologists. His leadership extended globally through roles as President of JSH, APASL, and Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology International.
He was one of the catalysts to corporatize the APDW Federation and sat as the Executive Member on the Board from 2010 to 2021.
With over 1,299 publications and an H-index of 166, his contributions rank among the most influential in medicine. In 2025, he received the Emperor Showa Memorial Award, joining a lineage of the field’s greatest pioneers.
Yet, beyond his achievements, Masao remains a man of grace, kindness, and humility—a devoted husband, father, and mentor whose greatest legacy lies in the generations he has inspired.
Professor Shiu-Kum Lam is conferred the first Asian Pacific Digestive Week Federation (APDWF) Meritorious Award at the APDW 2023. This prestigious recognition acknowledges individuals who have made substantial contributions to the consolidation and expansion of the Asian Pacific Digestive Week. The award specifically commends the significant impact an individual has had on fulfilling the objectives and advancing the work of the APDWF, particularly in the organization of high-caliber APDW meetings, one of the largest gathering of Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists.
With numerous publications and global citations, Scholarometer of Google Scholar ranked him the world’s third most cited scholar in gastroenterology 2009-2018. He is a leading figure in gastroenterology, having founded the annual scientific conference, the Asian Pacific Digestive Week together with a group of like-minded physicians.
He has dedicated his career to researching peptic ulcer and gastric cancer, achieving notable milestones such as the first double-blind placebo-controlled study on H. pylori eradication for peptic ulcer cure and the first gastric cancer chemoprevention study in China. His team also discovered that acupuncture produces a shearing acoustic wave, transforming traditional medicine into evidence-based practice. With numerous publications and global citations, he is a leading figure in gastroenterology, having founded the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and played a key role in internationalizing Chinese gastroenterology conferences. Recognised with prestigious awards, including OBE from Queen of England, Bockus Medal from World Congress of Gastroenterology, Honorary Member British Society of Gastroenterology (<100 in the world), Master of American College of Gastroenterology (only awardee in Asian Pacific at the time), he remains an influential figure in the medical community and continues his mission to combat stomach cancer. In his later career, he invented an endoscopy method for treating gastric intestinal metaplasia, earning patents from Australia and the USA.