GALVESTON, Texas - Dr. J. Marc Shabot, a gastroenterologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, has received the Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor given by UTMB's School of Medicine Alumni Association. The award, which recognizes outstanding service to the medical profession and to humanity, honors the memory of pioneer physician Ashbel Smith, a driving force behind the establishment of the University of Texas and the medical department that became UTMB.
"Dr. Shabot exemplifies the ideal of a conscientious, compassionate physician," said Dr. Garland Anderson, dean of the UTMB School of Medicine and executive vice president and provost. "He has brought distinction to the UTMB School of Medicine by his exemplary achievements as a physician and through his service to the broader community."
Shabot, who is highly regarded for his leadership in clinical practice and medical education, is a 1969 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a 1973 graduate of UTMB's School of Medicine. He completed his residency program in internal medicine at the university and joined the faculty in 1978. He has devoted subsequent years to teaching, patient care and administration of departmental activities. Shabot was promoted to professor of internal medicine in 1998 and was later named the Raymond L. Gregory Professor in Internal Medicine. He has multiple publications in the clinical treatment of gastrointestinal ulcer disease and gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis.
During his 30-plus years at UTMB, Shabot has served on more than 40 committees involving patient care and medical education. He served as director of clinical gastroenterology and developed the university's colon cancer screening program.
In 1991, Shabot organized the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine Alumni Society, which he continues to nurture. He is active in continuing medical education, serving as course director for more than 25 programs for organizations including the Texas Club of Internists, the Texas Society for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians, the UTMB Alumni Association, and the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine and Alumni Society.
Shabot is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology and served as governor of the Texas Southern Region of the American College of Physicians from 1999 to 2003. He is the only person from Galveston elected to serve in this position. Shabot has received numerous professional awards including the Laureate Award from the ACP, and the Marcel Patterson-Robert Nelson Award from the Texas Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy for lifelong contributions to gastroenterology.
Shabot has been active in his community as president of Congregation B'nai Israel, chairman of the Rudy Tomjanovich Charity Golf Classic and an advisory board member of the Gulf Coast Big Brothers and Big Sisters Inc.