Foundation Awards and FUNdraisers!

As President of the Foundation of the AAGL (FAAGL), I have the privilege of providing an update on the Foundation’s current developments and upcoming events!

FAAGL Award season is quickly approaching. We look forward to recognizing each of our Noteworthy and Signature Award winners at the AAGL 50^th Global Congress. The top scoring abstracts, for each award category, are now being submitted to each designated Signature Award Committee where they will grade the full manuscript and select the “best of the best” to receive an award.

The Noteworthy Award application process is open now. This year we will be presenting five prestigious Noteworthy Awards : the Leila V. Adamyan Revolutionary Contributor Award, Harrith M. Hasson Emerging Countries Scholarship, Barbara S. Levy AchieveHER Award, Franklin D. Loffer Exceptional Resident Award, and the John F. Steege Mentorship Award. Applications for the Barbara S. Levy AchieveHER Award, the John F. Steege Mentorship Award and the Harrith M. Hasson Emerging Countries Scholarship are due August 20^th. This year’s Harrith M. Hasson Scholarship will provide online Congress registration if a winner is unable to attend Congress in-person. The application process for the Franklin D. Loffer Exceptional Resident Award is closed and grading is underway. The Leila V. Adamyan Revolutionary Contributor Award Committee is currently selecting the 2021 winners of this award. We are excited to announce the winners of these awards within the next few months! Submit your nominations soon!

This year, the FAAGL is hosting its first annual Karaoke FUNdraiser and party during the 50^th Global Congress. We invite all who love to sing, whether it is on stage or in the shower, to come show off your musical talents and put on your best performance. Registration will launch soon and allow you to choose the song that you, or your group, will perform. Prizes will be given out for Best Costumes, Best Performance and more! We also invite you to come cheer on your colleagues and enjoy the show! You can purchase your $25 ticket when you register for Congress. VIP seating is available! If you’d like to purchase a VIP table with VIP seating, food, and bottle service, please contact foundation@aagl.org. The fun starts at 8:30pm, November 14, 2021, at Geraldine’s in Austin, Texas. All proceeds benefit the Foundation the of the AAGL.

Thanks to the generous funding of Olympus and the Intuitive Foundation, the FAAGL was awarded two Fund for the Future Grants to support the training of FMIGS programs and offset their fellows’ educational expenses. One grant is open to all FMIGS programs, and the other grant is open to FMIGS programs that have a focus on robotics. All programs interested completed a formal application which then went through a rigorous grading process. This year we are pleased to award two Fund for the Future Grants and two Fund for the Future Robotics Grants to the highest scoring applicants. Please join me in congratulating the winners:

2021 Fund for the Future $47,000 Award Winners:
(sponsored by Olympus):

Cleveland Clinic Florida
Program Director: Michael Sprague, MD

NorthShore University Health System
Program Director: Sangeeta Senapati, MD

2021 Fund for the Future Robotics Award Winners:
(sponsored by the Intuitive Foundation):

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Program Director: Charles Miller, MD

Yale New Haven Health/Bridgeport Hospital
Program Director: Masoud Azodi, MD

Keep an eye open for announcements coming soon about the Foundation of the AAGL’s new line of 50^th Anniversary commemorative scrubs, scrub hats, and jackets as gifts for donations to the FAGGL. These special items celebrating AAGL’s 50^th Anniversary, will be available by pre-order only and delivered in-person at the meeting. Unfortunately, international shipping will not be available this year. Watch for announcements coming soon about the launch of these new branded gifts!

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s 50^th Global Congress!