The Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition, the philanthropic arm of the American Gastroenterological Association in Bethesda, Maryland, has received a $5 million grant from TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc. in support of an AGA initiative to encourage academic research careers in gastroenterology.

More Americans are hospitalized for digestive diseases than for any other type of illness, and the costs associated with such diseases have risen to an all-time high of $85 billion a year. TAP's gift, the single-largest gift in the association's history, will further scientific understanding of gastrointestinal disease, which affects more than sixty-five million Americans. Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition research awards provide crucial early support to physician-investigators who show promise in academic gastroenterology and enable them to develop independent research careers in digestive diseases by ensuring that a major portion of their time is protected for research.

"All of us — physicians, our partners in industry, and others concerned with gastrointestinal diseases — have a responsibility for helping advance research," said foundation chairman James W. Freston, M.D. "It is private support, such as this grant, that will enable a strong future for gastroenterology and ensure we have a whole new generation of researchers."