G-CAN Gold Medal Award
The G-CAN Gold Medal is the highest award of the Society, and as of 2025, has only been awarded to six investigators. The award recognizes investigators who have driven landmark research in the G-CAN field, mentored successful junior investigators in the field, and have participated regularly and actively in the activities of the Society, including as a G-CAN speaker.
G-CAN Master Award
The G-CAN Master Award is the second highest award of the Society, and is only awarded periodically. The award recognizes investigators with a lengthy lifetime achievement record of driving major original research in the G-CAN field. The awardees also have mentored successful junior investigators in the field, and have participated regularly and actively and actively in the activities of the Society, including as a G-CAN speaker or mentor of one or more G-CAN speakers.
H. Ralph Schumacher Award
H. Ralph Schumacher, Jr., MD – a rheumatologist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine – was a pioneer in the science, management and teaching of gout and other crystal arthritis. Dr. Schumacher, a former member of G-CAN, passed away in 2017 from complications of ALS.
His research greatly contributed to knowledge and advancement in the field of gout and crystal-associated disease, including early insights into:
- Neutrophil degranulation in inflammation
- Synovitis of acute gouty arthritis
- The pathologic nature of MSU crystals and associated proteins
- Intra-articular CPP and apatite deposition and chondrocalcinosis
- Phagocytosis of crystals
- Importance of allopurinol in reducing frequency of gout attacks, and urate crystal deposits.
He also developed RCTs of novel gout therapies and outcome measure for gout, and trained rheumatologists in crystal identification.
Each year, G-CAN presents the H. Ralph Memorial Young Investigators Award to the emerging career investigator whose abstract submission to the annual symposium receives the highest- ranking score. The recipient is invited to give a special lecture during the annual meeting.
Congratulations to Concepcion Sanchez, 2022 Schumacher Award Recipient!
Ms. Sanchez has a B.S. in Biochemistry from New Mexico State University and is a graduate student in Pharmacology at the University of California Sand Diego, La Jolla, California. Mentored by Drs. David Gonzalez and Robert Terkeltaub, she is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. Ms. Sanchez’s abstract, Sustained xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI) treat to target (T2T) urate lowering therapy (ULT) rewires a tight inflammation protein interactome detected by quantitative multiplex serum proteomics, received the highest score of the 20 abstract submissions. She will present her finding in a lecture at the 8th Annual G-CAN research Symposium October 22, 2022.
Past Winners
2021
Victoria Halperin Kuhns, PhD
2020
Jacob M. Wozniak
2019
Kensuke Nishimiya, MD, PhD
2018
Chio Yokose, MD