Skip to main content

Samuel D. Gross Prize

The Samuel D. Gross Prize

The Samuel D. Gross Prize was established by Samuel D. Gross (1805-1884), the founder of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery. In his Will, he provided $5,000 for a prize to be given every five years for the best original research in surgery by an American citizen. The prize was initially awarded in 1895 and was $1,000, subsequently raised to $1500, which was frequently used to publish the research in monograph form. In 1988, the President of the Academy, Dr. Dominic DeLaurentis, announced that John F. Connelly and the John F. Connelly Foundation had supplemented the endowment with a contribution of $80,000. This generous addition has enabled the prize to be increased to $5,000. Candidates were originally solicited to submit their work for consideration. Beginning in 1994 the prize winner has been selected from leading American surgical researchers without solicited submissions by the candidates.

Winners of the Samuel D. Gross Prize

2020

"Cellular Immunotherapy for Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer"

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Senior Investigator, Head, Tumor Immunology Section, NIH National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research

2015

“Fetal Surgery”

Dr. N. Scott Adzick, Surgeon-in-Chief, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; C. Everett Koop Professor of Pediatric Surgery; Professor of Pediatrics; and Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Photo

2010

"Regenerative Medicine"

Dr. Anthony Atala, Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, & the W.H. Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

2005

“Liver Transplantation”

Dr. Thomas Starzl, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA

2000

“Angiogenesis”

Dr. Judah Folkman, Harvard University School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Boston, Boston, MA

1995

“Mediators of Severe Inflammation”

Dr. Stephen F. Lowry, Cornell University Medical School, New York, NY

1992

“Adventitial Elastolysis and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation.”

Dr. John V. White, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

1987

“The Hemodynamics of Post-Shunt Neurological Deterioration: Analysis and Clinical Trial.”

Dr. Kaj Johansen, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA

1983

“The Application of Decision Sciences to Surgical Judgment.”

Dr. John R. Clarke, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

1979

“Simulation of Congenital Heart Disease in Fetal Lambs.”

Dr. Noel H. Fishman

1972

“Hepatic Metabolism in Human Cirrhosis: The Effect of Portacaval Shunt on Liver and Brain Metabolism.”

Dr. Frederick A. Reichle, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

1967

“Cholesterol Metabolism and Atherosclerosis as Influenced by Partial Small Bowel Intestinal Exclusion.”

Dr. Henry Buchwald, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

1962

“The Pathogenesis of Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers.”

Dr. Lester Dragstedt, Gainesville, FL

1955

“Liquid Plasma – Its Safety and Usefulness in Shock and Hypoproteinemia.”

Dr. J. Garrott Allen, Chicago, IL

1950

“Localization of Brain Tumors with Radio-Active Agents.”

Dr. George E. Moore, Minneapolis, MN

1945

“Parenteral Alimentation in Surgery with Special Reference to Protein & Amino Acids.”

Dr. Robert Elman, St. Louis, MO

1940

“The Role of the Liver in Surgery.”

Dr. Frederick Fitzherbert Boyce, New Orleans, LA

1935

“The Therapeutic Problems in Bowel Obstruction.”

Dr. Owen H. Wangensteen, Minneapolis, MN

1930

“Abnormal Arteriovenous Communications.”

Dr. Emile Holman, Stanford University, San Francisco, CA

1925

“The Surgery of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.”

Dr. John Alexander, Saranac Lake, NY

1920

“Some Fundamental Considerations in the Treatment of Empyema Thoracis.”

Dr. Evarts A. Graham, St. Louis, MO

1915

“Surgery in the Treatment of Hodgkin’s Disease."

Dr. John Lawrence Yates, Milwaukee, WI

1910

“An Anatomical and Surgical Study of Fractures of the Lower End of the Humerus.”

Dr. Astley P. C. Ashurst, Philadelphia, PA

1905

“The Biology of the Micro-organisms of Actinomycosis.”

Dr. James Homer Wright, Boston, MA

1902

“Treatment of Certain Malignant Growths by Excision of the External Carotids.”

Dr. Robert H. W. Dawbarn, New York, NY

1895

“Inquiry into the Difficulties Encountered in the Reduction of Dislocations of the Hip.”

Dr. Oscar H. Allis, Philadelphia, PA