ISSLS WILTSE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Nominations for the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award are now closed.

The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine presents an annual award for exceptional achievement in the spinal field. It is the Society’s most prestigious recognition of the life’s work of an individual. The nominee should be an outstanding scientist, clinician or basic science researcher who has made a major contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of spinal disorders. Consideration will also be given to nominees who have made a strong contribution to serve ISSLS during their lifetime. Nominees may be proposed by officers of universities, hospitals and/or spine research institutions. The award is to honour an individual who has made great contributions to the medical field, either members or non-members of ISSLS.

Please note: This award is intended for a single individual, not a group of two or more.  This is not a monetary award. 

The nomination must be accompanied by:

  • curriculum vitae

  • biographical summary (maximum 2 pages)

  • list of publications

  • an outline of the nominee’s contribution to the field of spinal research (maximum 3 pages)

  • two sponsoring letters, one from the individual making the nomination and one other from an individual outside the nominating institution

The award will be presented at the ISSLS Annual Meeting. Nominations may be updated and carried forward for the following two years.

The call for nominations has now closed. Details of how to submit nominations will be available here when nominations open.

Please submit your nominations to: ISSLS@asnevents.net.au

Past Awards

  • Professor Howard An, Rush University Medical Center, USA

    (SpineWeek, Melbourne, May 1-5, 2023)

  • Dr Robert Gunzburg and Dr Marek Szpalski, 2021/2022. Presented together at the Boston Annual Meeting in 2022.

  • Dr John P. O’Brien, Australia (due to the cancellation of 2020 meeting in Melbourne, Dr O’Brien received his award at the ISSLS  Virtual Annual Meeting in June in 2021)

  • Dr Shin-ichi Kikuchi, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
    (Kyoto, Japan, June 3-7, 2019)

  • Dr Jeremy Fairbank, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
    (Banff, Canada, May 14-18, 2018)

  • Dr Robert Fraser, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
    (Athens, May 29 – June 1, 2017)

  • Dr. Max Aebi, Salem-Hirslanden Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
    (Singapore Spineweek May 16-20, 2016)

  • Dr. Richard Deyo, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
    (San Francisco, CA, USA June 8-12, 2015)

  • Dr. Edward Hanley, Carolinas Medical Center, North Carolina, USA
    (Seoul, Korea June 3-7, 2014)

  • Dr. Steven Garfin, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
    (Scottsdale, AZ, USA May 13-17, 2013)

  • Not awarded 2012

  • Dr. Tapio Videman, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
    (Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14-18, 2011)

  • Dr. Vijay Goel, University of Toledo, USA
    (Auckland, New Zealand, April 13-17, 2010)

  • Not awarded 2009

  • Dr. Vert Mooney of San Diego, CA, USA
    (Geneva, Switzerland May 26-31, 2008)

  • Dr. Jill Urban, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
    (Hong Kong, China, June 10-14, 2007)

  • Dr. James Weinstein of Dartmouth University, Hanover, NH, USA (Bergen, Norway, June 13 17, 2006)

  • Dr. Manohar Panjabi of New Haven, CT, USA,
    (New York, NY, May 10-14, 2005)

  • Dr. Kiyoshi Kaneda of Sapporo, Japan (Porto, Portugal, June 1-5, 2004)

  • Dr. Malcolm Pope of Aberdeen, Scotland
    (Vancouver, Canada, May 13-17, 2003)

  • Dr. Gunnar Andersson of Chicago, IL, USA
    (Cleveland, OH, USA, May 14-18, 2002)

  • Dr. John Frymoyer of Burlington, VT, USA
    (Edinburgh, Scotland, June 19-23, 2001)

  • Professor Alf Nachemson of Sweden
    (Adelaide, Australia April 19-23, 2000)

Congratulations to Professor Howard An, who has won the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award

The announcement was made during the Fellowship & Awards Ceremony at 49th Annual ISSLS Meeting, combined with Spineweek in Melbourne, Australia (May 1-5, 2023).

As Professor An could not be in Melbourne to accept his Award, his pre-recorded acceptance video was shown. This was preceded by a tribute from Dino Samartzis, his nominator for this award.