The Dr. L. Clarke, Jr. and Elaine F. Stout Award was established in 2015 by the generous support of Dr. L. Clarke, Jr. and Elaine F. Stout. This award will ensure that pathologists endeavoring to resolve scientific medical problems by studying their anatomic features are supported and appreciated in perpetuity. The Stout Award will provide recognition and an award of $3,000 to an individual for the best English language peer-reviewed paper published during the twelve months preceding the application deadline, which resolved scientific medical problems by studying their anatomic features. Please note, manuscripts that do not incorporate in-depth macroscopic and/or microscopic evaluation(s) will not be considered for this award.
To apply for the Stout Award, applicants must complete the application form available on the USCAP website and electronically submit the application form along with a reprint of the publication to the USCAP Foundation.
The Academy does not provide travel or hotel accommodations for this award, and attendance at the Annual Meeting is not required—though it is highly encouraged. Recipients are selected by the Stout Award Committee.
Applications for the 2027 USCAP Honors are due by Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 11 AM PST, 2 PM EST.
Xiaoyan Liao, MD, PhD
2026 Dr. L. Clarke, Jr. and Elaine F. Stout Award
Dr. Xiaoyan Liao is a Senior Associate Consultant at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She earned her medical degree from Beijing Medical University and a PhD in Developmental Toxicology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She completed residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of California, San Diego Health System in 2017, followed by fellowship training in Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Dr. Liao was an Associate Professor and Director of the Liver Pathology Service at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), where she continues to hold an appointment as Adjunct Faculty.
Her clinical and research interests center on gastrointestinal and liver pathology, with particular expertise in inflammatory bowel disease, medical liver diseases, and hepatic neoplasms. An active researcher and dedicated educator, Dr. Liao has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and 29 book chapters. She has presented nationally and internationally on topics in gastrointestinal and liver pathology and has received multiple distinguished awards, including a Young Investigator Award from the Chinese American Pathologist Association (CAPA) and the 2025 Eric A. Schenk Award for Excellence in Teaching from URMC.
Previous Award Recipients
| 2025 | Bruno de Carvalho Dornelas |
| 2024 | Jasmine Vickery |
| 2023 | Alexandros D. Polydorides |
| 2022 | Jody E. Hooper |
| 2021 | Ying-Hsia Chu |
| 2020 | Kirill A. Lyapichev |
| 2019 | Kanika Taneja |
| 2018 | Arnulf H. Koeppen |
| 2017 | Natalia Rush |
| 2016 | Nikhil Sangle |
| 2015 | Ming Jin |