Professor John S. Fordtran

John Fordtran obtained his B.S. in biology from the University of Texas in 1952 and an MD from Tulane University in 1956. He was trained in New Orleans, Dallas, and Boston before joining the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Hospital as a Professor of Internal Medicine in 1962, becoming the chief of gastroenterology in 1963, and a full professor of medicine in 1969.

In 1979, he became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He established the Diagnostic Center for Digestive Diseases in 1983, which is one of only two such centers in the world that offer advanced diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases and cancers.

Fordtran is the co-author of one of the finest texts in gastro-enterology: Sleisinger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. This monumental text in 200 chapters, totaling 1160 pages, has been re-published several times.

Professor Fordtran is one of the world’s superlative investigators in the field of gastroenterology. He started his research in the 1950’s when he was still a medical student at Tulane University, and continued in that field over the next 30 years. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and conducted fundamental research on the physiology and pathophysiology of the absorption and secretion of water and solutes in the human gastrointestinal tract, which gained him international recognition. His research on the mechanisms of transportation of fluids and ions across the epithelial lining of the intestinal tract and the role of glucose in facilitating transport, has been instrumental in understanding the mechanisms of water and salt absorption by the human intestine. This has led to a new physiological approach to the classification of diarrheal diseases and formed the basis for their rational treatment.

Professor Fordtran was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award of the American Gastroenterological Association in 1971 He is a member of several medical societies, including the American College of Physicians. He is also a past President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and a member of the editorial boards of several medical journals.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.