The 2026 Blakemore Prize Winner

Dr Vincent Reed LaSala

The winner of the Blakemore Prize, for 2026 is Vincent Reed LaSala, MD, a graduate of the General Surgery Residency Program at New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He receives $2,000 in prize money, and his name will be added to the Blakemore Plaque listing previous winners, hanging on the wall on 7 Garden South, in the Milstein Hospital Building.

The Blakemore Prize is awarded annually for the best body of research performed by a graduating Chief General Resident during the training program. A research committee composed of current surgery faculty members, review submissions.

The next step on his journey is completing a Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship at UCLA..

The Review Committee, congratulated Dr. LaSala on his outstanding research achievements, and wished him continued success as a surgeon and research scientist.

See previous Blakemore Prize winners.

History of The Blakemore Prize

Arthur H. Blakemore, MD
Arthur H. Blakemore, MD

Dr. Arthur H. Blakemore joined the surgical faculty in 1936. He and Dr. Arthur B. Voorhees, Jr., were distinguished vascular surgeons in our department who described laboratory and clinical studies of vascular replacement using Vinyon N sail cloth in 1954. Blakemore was a surgical innovator also well known for the Blakemore tube, widely used in the past for the treatment of bleeding esophageal varices.

Arthur Voorhees, MD
Arthur Voorhees, MD

As a resident working in Blakemore's laboratory, Dr. Voorhees appreciated the importance of laboratory research by house staff and later established a fund to support the Blakemore Prizes and Awards. Dr. Roman Nowygrod a current faculty member and a vascular surgeon, has been a pivotal figure in maintaining the tradition of these research prizes.

For further information on the Blakemore Prize and Awards, and the Resident Research Symposium, contact:

Giovanni Ferrari PhD
Vice Chair of Research & Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery Research
Associate Professor of Surgery and BME
Columbia University
Email: gf2375@cumc.columbia.edu
Web: https://www.ferrarilabcolumbia.com/