Anna Mae Diehl, MD, to Receive 2026 ASIP Rous-Whipple Award
The 2026 recipient of the ASIP Rous-Whipple Award is Dr. Anna Mae Diehl, Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Duke Liver Center at the Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC).
The ASIP Rous-Whipple Award was first awarded in 1976 and was established in honor of the Presidents of the American Society for Experimental Pathology (ASEP) and the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists (AAPB) when the coalesced societies emerged as the American Association of Pathologists (AAP, which was later renamed the ASIP in 1992). The ASIP Rous-Whipple Award is presented to a senior scientist with a distinguished career in research who has advanced the understanding of disease and has continued productivity at the time of the award, including impactful science, teaching, mentorship, leadership in the field of pathology, and contributions to the Society.
Dr. Diehl earned both her BS in biology and MD from Georgetown University (Washington, DC) in 1974 and 1978, respectively. She then completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD). In 1984, she was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine and Officer, U.S. Army Medical Corps at the Uniformed Services University for Health Science (Bethesda, MD). Dr. Diehl then accepted an Assistant Professor position at Georgetown University & Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1987, and in 1990 she relocated to Johns Hopkins University (Joint Appointment at the School of Public Health) as an Associate Professor. She was promoted to Professor in 1997. In 2004, she found her present home at Duke University.
Dr. Diehl is an esteemed and accomplished educator, mentor, scientific author and pioneer in the study of liver disease. Her academic accomplishments allowed her to be the first woman to promote to rank of Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at John Hopkins University. When she joined the faculty of Duke University as the Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, she was one of very few women Division Chiefs in this country. In his letter of support, Dr. George K. Michalopoulos (Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) says, “Despite her high success and recognition, I have been always impressed by her humble spirit and congenial attitude that she displays towards all, especially younger colleagues, always ready to explain and argue dialectically to critically examine her viewpoints and those of others. She is truly a distinguished academic medical scientist.”
Dr. Diehl has authored numerous books and textbooks about liver injury and repair and over 250 peer original scientific publications in high quality journals such as Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Medicine, Hepatology, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology, authors over 50 book chapters, and disseminated her discoveries and knowledge at countless high-impact scientific meetings nationally and internationally. In the scope of these accomplishments, she has mentored nearly 100 young and inspiring physician scientists along the entire spectrum of education and training, many of whom are now academically accomplished scientists, clinical investigators, physicians, and/or teachers in the U.S and throughout the world (Portugal, Japan, China, Spain, Italy, and France to name a few)—all of whom would define their purpose as one which would make a difference in the health and well-being of their fellow man and for their communities.
Dr. Diehl is also a champion of gender equality and an advocate for the advancement of women in academia. Under her guidance, mentoring, and now with her continued collaboration, Dr. Diehl and colleagues developed a nationally and internationally recognized center in liver disease which bridges bench-to-clinic and clinic-to-bench. She has defined new mechanisms for disease acquisition and progression, and discovered novel targets for disease therapeutics for MASLD, liver fibrosis and inflammation. The Duke MASLD Clinical-Translational Research Program is recognized as a “Center of Excellence” for the care and treatment of patients with this disease. Patients with unexplained elevation of liver enzymes, biopsy-proven MASLD, and/or cryptogenic (cause unknown) cirrhosis travel long-distances to be evaluated at this Clinic where they receive a multidisciplinary approach to care, targeted treatment plans and/or enrollment into clinical studies evaluating new and novel therapies for NAFLD and cirrhosis.
In his letter of recommendations, Dr. Satdarshan P.S. Monga (SVC Chair in Pathobiology and Therapeutics, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) shares: “These few words cannot completely encompass the scope of her career and accomplishment... the grace, poise and personal and professional level of integrity by which [Dr. Diehl] has achieved such accomplishment is beyond reproach” and that “[she] is a role model for women in academic medicine.” Dr. Monga continues, “despite these accomplishments, she remains humble, giving credit and acknowledgement for her accomplishments to her former mentors and current mentees and her loving family. Dr. Diehl’s conviction, passion, strength, and perseverance for her science and practice are some of the major tenets of her success.”
Dr. Diehl’s research has been continuously supported by National Institute of Health grants and other sources. She has been invited to give numerous lectures, many of these as keynote speaker, in North America, Europe, Mexico and Japan, including lectures at ASIP meetings, the Hans Popper Honorary Lectureship at the University of Vienna, Austria in 2016, and the prestigious Keynote lecture at the 30th European Congress of Pathology in Bilbao, Spain, as one of the very few physician scientists ever invited for this honorary task.
In her letter of recommendation, Dr. Dina G. Tiniakos (Chair, Advisory Board European Society of Pathology, Professor and Director, Department of Pathology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens) shared, “…above all [Dr. Diehl’s] remarkable scientific achievements that span more than four decades, she is a warm, compassionate, caring and thoughtful person dedicated to improving the lives of people suffering from liver disease and to helping her colleagues all over the world expand their scientific horizons.” In 2020, the American Gastroenterological Association recognized her outstanding mentoring achievements honoring her with the Research Mentoring Award.
Dr. Diehl will receive the 2026 ASIP Rous-Whipple Award during Pathobiology 2026.