To be eligible for this award, the award winner must be the primary/presenting or the senior author AND be an Active Member of the AAS in good standing. The winner will receive a paid trip to present their work at the annual Surgical Research Society of Australasia (SRS) meeting, held in the fall of each year in either Australia or New Zealand.

To be eligible the winner must be the primary/presenting or senior author, and a current member of the AAS and SBAS. The winner of this award will receive a cash prize of $1,000 to assist with the cost of registration, travel, and lodging to the SBAS Annual Meeting. At the SBAS meeting the winner will have the opportunity to present their work. A certificate of the award will be presented at the upcoming Academic Surgical Congress.

Note: the abstract may also be selected for a full oral presentation in one of the parallel sessions, depending on the score the abstract receives. The award winner will receive a certificate and a prize of $250. To be eligible for this award, the medical student must be the presenter of the work AND either the presenting or senior author must be an AAS member (either full or candidate) in good standing or have an AAS membership application in process at the time of submission.

The winner of this award will receive a prize of $500. To be eligible for this award, the manuscript must be submitted to the Journal of Surgical Research by Friday, December 5, 2025, at 5:00pm (Eastern), AND either the presenting or senior author must be an AAS member (either full or candidate) in good standing. Authors must select ‘VSI: ASC 2026’ as the article type and include a reference to the ASC 2026 meeting in both the cover letter and just before the references.

This award is open to international investigators whose abstract does not include work performed in the US or in a US laboratory. The award will provide financial assistance for international travel that cannot be supported by the investigator or their institution. Three (3) awards will be given and include complimentary registration to the 2026 ASC and a $1,500 stipend to defray the cost of travel to the Congress (stipend will be presented at the ASC during Thursday’s Award Ceremony). Eligible applicants who would like to be considered for this award must submit a statement (up to 2000 characters) at the time of abstract submission which includes: a short description of the project, your career stage (Professor, Fellow, Resident, etc), and note whether you are receiving any research funding. Please also include an overview of the authors and research team involved in the project and a statement of why this award is necessary for you to attend the ASC.

Eligible abstracts will be those selected for presentation at any of the plenary sessions and presented by a general surgical resident in good standing in their department, where the Senior Author is a SUS Member in good standing. The submitting author must apply for the award via the abstract submission system. Eligible presentations will be graded by members of the SUS Executive Council and the winner will receive support to travel to the Surgical Research Society (SRS) 2027 Annual Meeting. For questions regarding membership status, contact the SUS Member Services Department at [email protected].

The presenting author of the winning abstract will be awarded a plaque and $500. In addition, the awardee will be given the honor to deliver the talk at the 2026 SAAS Annual Meeting. For any questions related to the SAAS Esther Tsai Sugg Research Award, please contact SAAS Executive Director Ms. Yumi Hori at [email protected].