Illinois Medicine

SPONSORS THANK YOU ness Ball LAYDEN NAMED 2011 CHAMPION OF MEDICINE annual Sweetness Ball on Oct. 22 when Connie Payton presented to Layden the first Walter Payton Champions of Medicine Award, designed to recognize leaders in the field of liver disease care. Jay Goldstein, MD, professor of medicine and vice head for clinical W affairs in the department of medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, introduced the Thomas J. Layden Endowed Professorship in Digestive and Liver Diseases, which was established to ensure the continued growth of the nationally recognized program that was developed during Layden's tenure. Goldstein noted the fund "has already garnered more than $600,000 in financial support, including generous gifts from trainees, peers and family." During his 36-year career, Layden has earned a reputation as an accomplished researcher whose pioneering work in the area of hepatitis C viral kinetics has substantially influenced treatment of the disease. The Edmund F. Foley Professor of Medicine and former medicine department chair, Layden established UI Health's first liver program and built it into a premier clinical center, receiving patients from across Illinois and outside the state. In 1997, Layden helped to establish what is now the Walter Payton Center Guild, which took that name in 2009 upon partnering with the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, two years after UI Hospital opened the Walter Payton Liver Center. ALTER PAYTON CENTER GUILD founding member and medical director Thomas J. Layden, MD, joined the College of Medicine faculty in 1975, the same year the Chicago Bears drafted a little-known running back from Jackson State by the name of Walter Payton. Their paths crossed again, metaphorically speaking, at the 12th ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ILLINOIS MEDICINE | 13 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0

• Cover