The George P. Yang SAAS Trailblazer Award is presented to individuals in recognition of their contributions to the surgical sciences and for paving the way for the next generation of Asian academic surgeons. Dr. George Yang MD PhD was a founding member of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS) and its first executive director in 2016. A proud graduate of Northwestern University (BS, MD), University of Illinois at Chicago (PhD), and Stanford (General Surgery), Dr. Yang served as faculty at Stanford (2001-2018) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2018-2022). Dr. Yang was an outstanding surgeon-scientist, leader, mentor, teacher, friend, family, and wine connoisseur to so many. In honor of his accomplishments, leadership, and vision, his legacy will live on in many named awards including this award, the George P. Yang MD PhD Junior Faculty Teaching Award (Stanford), the George P. Yang Junior Faculty Award for the Underrepresented in Medicine (SUS), and the George Yang Endowed Lectureship (UAB). 

Previous Recipients

2024

Sandra Wong, MD, MS
Emory University

2022

Herb Chen, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

2021

George Yang, MD PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

2019

Steven Stain, MD
Albany Medical Center

2018

Quan-Yang Duh, MD
University of California, San Francisco