Endowment Funds

The Basil I. Hirschowitz, MD Endowed Lecture is presented annually during Digestive Disease Week^®, and was established by the ASGE Foundation and generous contributions from friends, trainees and colleagues of Dr. Hirschowitz.

Dr. Hirschowitz was a gifted and caring physician, a research scientist and a teacher. With a career spanning six decades, Dr. Hirschowitz led some of the most important initiatives in gastroenterology and endoscopy and reached the pinnacle of academic medicine as a teacher, basic scientist, mentor, clinician, and as one of the fathers of modern medicine. In January, 1957, Dr. Hirschowitz assembled the original prototype flexible fiberoptic endoscope. This invention revolutionized the practice of gastroenterology and provided the basis for optical fiber communication in multiple industries.

Truly a principal figure in the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy and related diseases, ASGE honors the late Dr. Hirschowitz for his leadership and accomplishments with this lectureship.

The Gene and Lyn Overholt Endowment supports ASGE programs and activities focused on clinical innovation and practice improvement, including an annual lecture presented during Digestive Disease Week^®, and was established by generous contributions from friends, colleagues and mentees of Dr. Overholt.

A past president of ASGE and recipient of the Rudolf V. Schindler Award, Dr. Overholt’s many accomplishments include the development of the flexible sigmoidoscope in the early 1960s, an innovation that paved the way for flexible colonoscopy. Dr. Overholt was also instrumental in moving GI endoscopy from the hospital environment to the ASC setting, thereby creating a new paradigm for the provision of cost-efficient GI care and cancer screening services. With his groundbreaking research into photodynamic therapy and laser-induced fluorescence, Dr. Overholt helped lay the foundation for today’s endoscopic therapies for Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer. More details about Dr. Overholt’s amazing career can be found here.

A true innovator in gastrointestinal endoscopy, practice operations and patient care, ASGE proudly honors Dr. Overholt through this endowment. View a list of Overholt Donors to the Gene and Lyn Overholt Endowment.

The Jerry Waye Endowment supports ASGE programs and activities focused on GI endoscopy education, research and mentoring including an annual lecture to be presented Digestive Disease Week^® beginning in 2023.

A past president of ASGE and recipient of the Rudolf Schindler Award, Dr. Waye’s many accomplishments include groundbreaking work on colonoscopy and  polypectomy techniques and has become one of the world's most impactful  teachers and mentors in this field. He has published several hundred articles in  peer reviewed journals and has written seven textbooks including the major text on  colonoscopy. He has lectured and participated in live endoscopy demonstrations on every continent. Dr. Waye was also co-founder and president of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and president of the World Endoscopy Organization. He is currently pioneering remote endoscopy education and teaching GI endoscopy techniques to colleagues in several African countries via a virtual platform.

Dr. Waye is amazed and truly delighted by the enthusiasm and generosity of his many friends and colleagues, and the support of the ASGE and ASGE Foundation for this endeavor. View a list of Waye Donors to the Jerry Waye Endowment.

The J. Edward Berk, MD, DSc, FASGE Endowed Lecture is presented annually during Digestive Disease Week^®, and was established through the generous support of The Berk Family.

Dr. Berk was internationally renowned for his immeasurable contributions as an author, an editor, a physician with a caring bedside manner and a gifted teacher. Dr. Berk is best known as the founding chairman of the Department of Medicine and the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California- Irvine. This dual role and his monumental contributions throughout his career in medicine gave the university its initial credibility helping it to grow into the highly-ranked university it is today. The late Dr. Berk served on several ASGE Committees and as President of the Society from 1958-1959. He was awarded ASGE’s highest honor, the Rudolf V. Schindler Award, in 1966 and was distinguished as a Fellow of ASGE in 2006.

In recognition of these many accomplishments, achievements and his distinguished contributions to our profession, ASGE honors the late Dr. Berk with this lectureship.

The Jack A. Vennes, MD & Stephen E. Silvis, MD Endowed Lecture is presented annually during Digestive Disease Week^®, and was established through the generous support of Cook Medical and supported with contributions from the Olympus Medical Charitable Foundation, colleagues, friends and trainees of Drs. Vennes and Silvis.

Drs. Vennes and Silvis worked as a team at the Minneapolis (MN) Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1971-1986. They were pioneers of ERCP, studying the new techniques in Japan and then teaching them in the United States. They were prolific authors and published widely on the evolving techniques of ERCP. In addition, they pioneered early instrument designs and procedural techniques. Drs. Vennes and Silvis are considered among the most highly respected gastroenterologists in the history of the profession.

In recognition of their role in the evolution of GI practice and their commitment to teaching pioneering therapies and complex endoscopic procedures to generations of gastroenterologists, ASGE honors the late Drs. Vennes and Silvis with this lectureship.

The Michael V. Sivak Jr., MD Endoscopic Research Endowment Fund was established by friends and colleagues of Dr. Sivak to honor his valuable contributions as Editor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (1997-2004), and his firm belief that support of endoscopic research and especially of young investigators is critical towards advancing progress in gastrointestinal endoscopy.

The Michael V. Sivak Jr., MD Endoscopic Research Endowment Fund supports highly meritorious research in the field and specifically provides financial support annually to the highest scoring ASGE Endoscopic Research Award application as determined by the ASGE Research Committee and approved by the ASGE Governing Board. 

The NYSGE Fund for GI Endoscopic Research and Public Education is administered by the ASGE Foundation. The NYSGE Fund offers the Florence Lefcourt Award for GI  Endoscopic Research and Public Education which supports collaborative endoscopic research and educational outreach in the New York region.

Named in honor of the late Florence Lefcourt, NYSGE's first and long-serving Executive Director, the award provides grants to physicians who are members of the NYSGE and ASGE, and who are in practice or on full time staff at an NYSGE- affiliated institution. This award alternates annually between providing support for public education and research initiatives.

The New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (NYSGE) is the oldest and largest regional GI endoscopy society in the United States. Founded in 1974, the Society is dedicated to the teaching and advancement of gastrointestinal endoscopy.