Dr. Joseph Gosnell, chief resident physician of pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, is an official 2023 Emerging Liver Scholar Award winner.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease Foundation selected Gosnell for this award. The award promotes the study of hepatology among outstanding residents who have potential for a career in academic medicine.

“One of the main reasons that I joined the pathology residency program at UTMB was to work with Dr. Heather Stevenson-Lerner and her research team,” Gosnell said.  The team studies chronic liver diseases including fatty liver (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease or MASLD).

“Specifically, we aim to understand the factors contributing to disease progression and cirrhosis development in patients, similar to my late father's condition,” he said. “He fought progressive fatty liver disease and liver cancer until he passed away in 2015.”

Stevenson-Lerner's team works on advancing diagnostic testing for chronic liver diseases, including MASLD, which aligns with the goals of the foundation's Emerging Liver Scholar award.

“Receiving this award has also strengthened my competitiveness to obtain a prestigious fellowship in gastrointestinal/liver pathology and I have already been offered interviews at the Mayo Clinic, University of Michigan, Stanford University and MD Anderson,” Gosnell said.