Frank J. Tusa Pilot Award for Research in Hepatic Encephalopathy

About this program

The AASLD Foundation offers the $50,000, one-year Frank J. Tusa Pilot Award to support innovative, hypothesis-driven research testing interventions to improve outcomes for people with hepatic encephalopathy, particularly projects with limited preliminary data and high potential impact. Projects must be new, feasible within one year, and include clinical interaction, patient data, or patient samples. Applicants must be AASLD members, NIH-defined early-stage investigators at or below the associate professor level, affiliated with an eligible nonprofit institution in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, and able to commit at least 20% effort; junior faculty must also have an AASLD-member mentor. Applications are due December 7, 2026.