The Rome Foundation established an award for the most cited paper in memory of Ken Heaton MD, former Consultant Physician at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Reader in Medicine at the University of Bristol.
The Rome Foundation will award a $1000 prize each year for the most frequently cited publication on functional gastrointestinal and motility disorders. This award is named in honor of Dr. KW Heaton whose legacy to the study of the functional gastrointestinal disorders began with his early, novel suggestion that the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) could be diagnosed by history without exhaustive testing. That idea inspired what became known as the Manning Criteria. Three of four Manning criteria survive in the Rome IV criteria for IBS. He also made possible the first epidemiologic survey of the disorders, and invented a visual metric on human stool characteristics that is incorporated into the Rome III IBS criteria. Thus, Ken’s early concepts of the 1970s underlie IBS criteria to the present time. Dr. Heaton had other career successes as well – research and a book on bile salt physiology; monographs, collaborations, books and book chapters on the IBS; and seminal papers on dietary fiber. His many trainees and international colleagues remember him as a thoughtful, kindly doctor, clinician and clinical investigator. Finally, Dr. Heaton developed the well known Bristol Stool Form Scale now used in most clinical trials of IBS and also applied in clinical care.This award commemorates Dr. Heaton’s work that inspired The Rome Foundation’s pursuit of international diagnostic criteria for functional gut disorders.
The Ken Heaton Award will be made at Digestive Disease Week 2025. The winning paper will be selected from all papers describing original research on functional GI and motility disorders published in the calendar year two years prior to the Digestive Disease Week at which the award is made. Reviews will not be eligible for the award.
Ken Heaton Award Recipients:
2024 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Ami Sperber, MD, MSPH, RFF
Ami Sperber, MD, MSPH, RFFEmeritus Professor of Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer-Sheva, Israel
Title: “Greater Overlap of Rome IV Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions Leads to Increased Disease Severity and Poorer Quality of Life.”
Sperber AD, Freud T, Aziz I, Palsson OS, Drossman DA, Dumitrascu DL, Fang X, Fukudo S, Ghoshal UC, Kellow J, Khatun R, Okeke E, Quigley EMM, Schmulson M, Simren M, Tack J, Whitehead WE, Whorwell P, Bangdiwala SI. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 May;20(5):e945-e956.
2023 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Ami Sperber, MD, MSPH, RFF
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer-Sheva, Israel
Title: “Worldwide Prevalence and Burden of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Results of Rome Foundation Global Study. Sperber AD, Bangdiwala SI, Drossman DA, Ghoshal UC, Simren M, Tack J, et al.”
Gastroenterology. 2021 Jan;160(1):99-114.e3. 480 citations
2022 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Magdy El-Salhy, MD
Norway
Magdy El-Salhy, MD
Title: “Efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation for patients with irritable bowel syndrome in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. El-Salhy M, et al.”
Gut. 2020 May;69(5):859-867.
2021 Ken Heaton Award Recipients for Most Cited Paper
Rapat Pittayanon, MD
Title: “Gut Microbiota in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome-A Systematic Review.”
Pittayanon R, Lau JT, Yuan Y, Leontiadis GI, Tse F, Surette M, Moayyedi P. Gastroenterology
2019 Jul;157(1):97-108
Stuart Spechler, MD
Title: “Randomized Trial of Medical versus Surgical Treatment for Refractory Heartburn.“
Spechler SJ, Hunter JG, Jones KM, Lee R, Smith BR, Mashimo H, Sanchez VM, Dunbar KB, Pham TH, Murthy UK, Kim T, Jackson CS, Wallen JM, von Rosenvinge EC, Pearl JP, Laine L, Kim AW, Kaz AM, Tatum RP, Gellad ZF, Lagoo-Deenadayalan S, Rubenstein JH, Ghaferi AA, Lo WK, Fernando RS, Chan BS, Paski SC, Provenzale D, Castell DO, Lieberman D, Souza RF, Chey WD, Warren SR, Davis-Karim A, Melton SD, Genta RM, Serpi T, Biswas K, Huang GD. N Engl J Med.
2019 Oct 17;381(16):1513-1523
2020 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Peter Holger-Johnsen, MD
Title: “Fecal microbiota transplantation versus placebo for moderate-to-severe irritable bowel syndrome: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single-center trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol.”
2018 Jan;3(1):17-24
2019 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Keith McIntosh, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine at Western University and Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility program at St. Joseph’s Health Care.
Title: “FODMAPS alter symptoms and the metabolome of patients with IBS: A randomized controlled trial.”
Gut 2017; 66:1241-1251
2018 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Doris Vandeputte, PhD
PhD Department of Gastroenterology Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders Leuven, Belgium
Title: “Stool consistency is strongly associated with gut microbiota richness and composition, enterotypes and bacterial growth rates.”
Gut. 2016 Jan;65(1):57-62. doi: 10.1136/ gutjnl-2015-309618. Epub 2015 Jun 11
2017 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Giada De Palma, PhD
McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
Title: “Microbiota and host determinants of behavioural phenotype in maternally separated mice.”
Nature Communications 2015; 6; 7735. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8735. PMID: 26218677.
2016 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Emma Halmos, PhD
Monash University Australia
Title: “A diet low in FODMAPs reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.”
with coauthors: Victoria A. Power, Susan J. Shepherd, Peter R. Gibson, Jane G. Muir Gastroenterology 2014; 146:67+.
2015 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Jessica Biesiekierski, PhD
Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders, Leuven, Belgium
Title: No effects of gluten in patients with self-reported nonceliac gluten sensitivity after dietary reduction of fermentable, poorly-absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates.
Jessica R. Biesiekierski, Simone L. Peters, Evan D. Newnham, Ourania Rosella, Jane G. Muir, Peter R. Gibson Gastroenterology 2013; 145:320-328.
2014 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper (two recipients)
Madhusudan Grover, MBBS
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Title: “Clinical-histological associations in Gastroparesis: results from the Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium.”
Grover M1, Bernard CE, Pasricha PJ, Lurken MS, Faussone-Pellegrini MS, Smyrk TC, Parkman HP, Abell TL, Snape WJ, Hasler WL, McCallum RW, Nguyen L, Koch KL, Calles J, Lee L, Tonascia J, Ünalp-Arida A, Hamilton FA, Farrugia G; NIDDK Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium (GpCRC). Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2012 Jun;24(6):531-9.
Natasha Koloski, PhD.
University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Callaghan, Australia
Title: The brain-gut pathway in functional gastrointestinal disorders is bidirectional: a 12-year prospective population-based study.
Koloski NA1, Jones M, Kalantar J, Weltman M, Zaguirre J, Talley NJ. Gut 2012 Sep;61(9):1284-90
2013 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
Jessica Biesiekierski, PhD
Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders, Leuven, Belgium
Title: Gluten causes gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects without celiac disease: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Biesiekierski JR, Newnham ED, Irving PM, Barrett JS, Haines M, Doecke JD, Shepherd SJ, Muir JG, Gibson PR. Am J Gastroenterol 2011;106:509-14. Cited 52 times. (Corresponding author: Peter R Gibson, Monash University, Box Hill Hospital, Department of Medicine & Gastroenterology, Box Hill, Vic 3128, Australia.)
2012 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper (two recipients)
Ted J. Kaptchuck, OMD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Anthony J. Lembo, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Title: Placebos without deception: a randomized controlled trial in irritable bowel syndrome.
Ted J Kaptchuk, Elizabeth Friedlander, John M Kelley, M Norma Sanchez, Efi Kokkotou, Joyce P Singer, Magda Kowalczykowski, Franklin G Miller, Irving Kirsch, Anthony J Lembo. Placebos without deception: a randomized controlled trial in irritable bowel syndrome. PLoS One 2010;5(12):e15591.
2011 Ken Heaton Award Recipient for Most Cited Paper
S.M. O’Mahony
Title: Early life stress alters behavior, immunity, and microbiota in rats: implications for irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric illnesses.
O’Mahony SM, Marchesi JR, Scully P, Codling C, Ceolho AM, Quigley EM, Cryan JF, Dinan TG. Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Feb 1;65(3):263-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.06.026. Epub 2008 Aug 23.