Contact: Richard Gulla
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org
Waltham -- April 22 -- Robert H. Young, M.D., a pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, is being honored by the Massachusetts Medical Society as the 2016 recipient of the Society’s Women’s Health Research Award, recognizing a physician for outstanding contributions that advance women’s health research in Massachusetts. He will receive the award at the annual MMS Women’s Leadership Forum in November.
In nominating him for the honor, his colleagues described Dr. Young as one whose “major research contributions significantly advanced the field of gynecologic cancer. He has not only recognized new aspects of gynecologic and urologic disorders, but his clinical-pathologic contributions have guided the best treatment for patients. He has made numerous important contributions to women’s health research, with over 350 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals as well as many chapters and book contributions.”
Dr. Young’s career spans nearly 40 years in pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed his residency in pathology at MGH and became Chief Resident in 1978. From 1992-2006, he served as Director of Surgical Pathology and from 2002-2006 was Associate Chief of Pathology. He was named Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School in 1996 and in 2007 was appointed the Robert E. Scully Professor of Pathology at Harvard.
In addition to his clinical and academic work, Dr. Young has served terms as Secretary, Vice President, and President of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists and
President of the History of Pathology Society. He is a member of many medical journal editorial boards, including the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology, the International Journal of Surgical Pathology, and the International Journal of Gynecologic Pathology.
Dr. Young has also authored more than 350 peer-review medical articles on a wide range of topics in gynecologic and urologic pathology and has co-authored or authored nine books, including three in the prestigious Armed Forces Institute of Pathology series. His work in gynecologic pathology has included the description of a number of new entities in ovarian tumor pathology, previously un-emphasized variant patterns of uterine cancer and papers describing benign patterns that can be misdiagnosed as malignant. He was also a coeditor of the recent World Health Organization classification of female genital tract tumors. Most of this work was done in collaboration with Dr. Robert E. Scully, the first recipient of this MMS award who was honored posthumously in 2014.
The Massachusetts Medical Society’s Women’s Health Research Award is the latest of several honors accorded Dr. Young. He has been awarded Honorary Life Membership in the British Association of Gynaecological Pathologists, Honorary Life Membership in the British Division of the International Academy of Pathology, and he received the Leopold Koss Medical Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Urologic Pathology.
Dr. Young received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Trinity College of Dublin University in Ireland. He is also the recipient of an honorary Master of Science Degree from Harvard University and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with some 25,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education providing accredited and certified activities across the globe for physicians and other health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information please visit
www.massmed.org,
www.nejm.org, or
www.jwatch.org.
