University of Pennsylvania
Professor CE of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, Co-director, GI Physiology Laboratory, Director, Acid Peptic Disorders Specialty Program, Co-director, Penn Program for Swallowing Disorders, Associate Chief for Clinical Affairs, Division of Gastroenterology, Co-director, University of Pennsylvania Neuroendocrine Tumor Program
NANETS is honored to present David Metz, MD, with the medical society's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Arriving at Penn Medicine in 1993, David Metz, MD, held a variety of leadership roles within the Department of Gastroenterology, including Co-Directorship of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Center and Penn NET Treatment Program. Dr. Metz was previously a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where he performed basic research in pancreatic acinar cell secretion and clinical research in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. While at Penn Medicine, he served as Chair of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS), as a member of the Liaison Committee for Recertification of the American Board of Internal Medicine (American Gastroenterological Association representative), and on the Food and Drug Administration Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee, among other positions.
Dr. Metz's clinical interests at Penn included Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and other acid-peptic conditions, Helicobacter pylori infection, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug gastropathy and the diagnosis and management of patients with functional and non-functional neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and alimentary tract. An investigator for a series of prominent clinical trials in all of these areas, Dr. Metz has published more than 200 articles on topics of clinical interest and research. He retired in July 2021 after 28 years at Penn Medicine.
“David is an outstanding choice for the lifetime achievement award. He has been an outstanding clinician and researcher, has been a superb mentor and role model, has established an excellent NET unit which is a major contributor to the literature, and has provided unparalleled leadership to NANETS at an especially difficult time. David has done all of this with integrity, fairness, and intelligence." Robert Jensen, MD NIH, and 2018 recipient of NANETS' Lifetime Achievement Award.
According to Bonnie Bennett, RN, Nurse Coordinator for the U Penn NET Program for over 10 years and Dr. Metz' long time colleague, "Dr. Metz is a most deserving recipient of the NANETS lifetime achievement award because of his extraordinary dedication to the care of his NET patients. This dedication is well illustrated by his frequent and extensive calls with his patients, who all miss him very much. And so do I, as I was both a great admirer and occasional exasperator of the dear doctor. “
Michael C. Soulen, MD, Director of Interventional Oncology at U. Penn and a 30-year colleague and friend, had this to say about working with Dr. Metz: “David embodies the essential traits of the outstanding clinical specialist. David works for the greater good without seeking credit for himself. He strives to bring out the best in everyone around him. Not a meeting goes by when he does not take time to put his hand on your shoulder, look you in the eye, and ask how you are doing and if there is anything he can do for you. His piercing intelligence, humility, and steadfast devotion to advancing medicine and improving patient care make the world a better place tomorrow than it is today. I am proud to call him my colleague and friend.”
Dr. Metz' mentees added to the accolades. Shria Kumar, MD, MSCE, with the University of Miami, said this about Dr. Metz' mentorship:
“Dave Metz is an absolute star. He's also brilliant, and exemplified so much of what I look up to in a mentor. No matter what ideas I came up with and presented to him, he was enthusiastic and found ways to build on them. As his fellow, he also built you up, and imbued you with confidence.”
“The GI service at Penn is notoriously busy, and when he was on service David made the Tasmanian Devil seem slow by comparison.”