Drafted by J R Klinck, ILTS Secretary

10 May 2018

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented yearly at the annual congress to honor one or two individuals who have made outstanding career contributions to ILTS and/or liver transplantation. In the past this has been based on informal Executive Committee discussion and confirmed by Council at the winter council meeting. More recently, all council members have been invited to submit nominations for discussion.

There are no relevant bylaws, and the lack of clarity about criteria has sometimes led to nominations of individuals at varying career stages with varying levels of engagement with ILTS. The key principles shown below are proposed to clarify eligibility. They are listed in decreasing order of importance:

1. A candidate should be close to retirement (within 2 years) or already retired from full-time clinical practice and/or research.

2. He/she should have made significant academic contributions both to ILTS meetings and to the progress of liver transplantation as a whole.

3. Consideration should also be given to non-academic contributions in support of the society’s educational mission, including society management and development.

4. Consideration may be given to selection of candidates with a connection to the region hosting the congress – this enhances peer recognition for the awardee and promotes ILTS to the local community.