A medal, known as the Henry L. Bockus Medal, is awarded at each World Congress to a gastroenterologist who, in the opinion of the WGO Governing Council, has made a distinguished contribution to the clinical practice, science and/or teaching of gastroenterology.
Dr. H. L. Bockus (1894-1982) was a leading American gastroenterologist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a well-deserved reputation due to the authorship of an outstanding gastroenterology treatise and the organization of specialty postgraduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania, which were attended by numerous physicians from North and South America as well as from Europe. He was elected President of the first World Congress of Gastroenterology, held in Washington, DC, USA on 29 May 1958. On the last day of the Congress, a provisional WGO Governing Council was elected, and Dr. Bockus became the first president of what is now the World Gastroenterology Organisation. His vision to enhance standards of education and training in gastroenterology lives on today.
2022: Henry Cohen (Uruguay)
Lecture: Project ECHO: Democratizing medical care, demonopolizing medical knowledge, worldwide
2019: Richard Kozarek (USA)
Lecture: The Evolution of Therapeutic Endoscopy: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?
2017: Shiv Kumar Sarin (India)
Lecture: Does Portal Pressure Guide Management of Portal Hypertension and its Complications?
2013: Michael Farthing (UK)
Lecture: Research misconduct: A grand global challenge for the 21st century
2009: Richard Hunt (UK)
Lecture: Science, society and the gastroenterologist: The influence of politics, pharma and professors
2005: Bernard Levin (USA)
Lecture: Colorectal Cancer Prevention - Opportunities and Challenges
2002: S.K. Lam (Hong Kong)
Lecture: Cellular and molecular basis, biological markers, and chemotherapeutic interventions for the prevention of gastric cancer
1998: Kunlo Okuda (Japan)
1994: J. Edward Berk (USA)
1990: Francisco Vilardell (Spain)
1986: Ludwig Demling (Germany)
1982: Francis Avery-Jones (UK)