Eleven Stroke Researchers Honored for Advancing Brain Health Science at International Conference

Eleven top scientists in stroke and brain health will be recognized for their individual exceptional professional achievements and contributions to stroke and brain health care and research during the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2026. The meeting is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health. The awardees include five groundbreaking scientists who have devoted their careers to stroke research and six other scientists who will be recognized for their new research findings to be presented during the conference.

Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.L.S., FAHA, from the University of California, San Francisco, will receive the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award. The award recognizes lifetime contributions to the investigation, management, mentorship and community service in the field of racial and ethnic stroke disparities or related disciplines. Ovbiagele will present the Edgar J. Kenton III lecture in the preconference symposium HEADS-UP, "Stroke Disparities Research Workforce: Wherefore Art Thou." Pooja Khatri, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, from Yale University, will be honored with the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke, which recognizes significant contributions to the investigation and management of clinical research in stroke. Khatri will present a lecture titled "Clinical Trial Innovations: The Future is Now."

Raghu Vemuganti, Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, will receive the Thomas Willis Lecture Award, recognizing contributions to the investigation and management of stroke as they relate to basic science. Vemuganti will present his lecture, "Role of RNAs in Ischemic Brain Damage." Kazunori Toyoda, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, from the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Japan, will be recognized with the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award, which honors outstanding achievements in mentoring future generations of stroke researchers. Toyoda will present his lecture, "One Only Half Dies." Seemant Chaturvedi, M.D., from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, will receive the David G. Sherman Lecture Award, recognizing lifetime contributions to the investigation, management, mentorship and community service in the stroke field. Chaturvedi will present his lecture, "The Eternal Quest for Optimal Stroke Prevention."

Amar Dhand, M.D., Ph.D., from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, will be recognized with the Stroke Rehabilitation Award, which encourages research and clinical work in stroke rehabilitation. Dhand's award-winning research, Abstract DP098, "SocialBit: Validation of a Lightweight Machine Learning Algorithm for Measuring Social Interactions in Real-Time in Stroke Survivors with Diverse Neurological Abilities," will be presented. Soomin Jeong, Ph.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, will receive the Stroke Basic Science Award, recognizing outstanding laboratory-based basic or translational science. Jeong's award-winning research, Abstract 55, "Restoring the Blood-Brain Barrier after Stroke: VCAM-Targeted MFSD2A mRNA Nanoparticle Therapy with Functional Recovery," will be presented.

Zhe Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., from Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University in China, will receive the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke, which encourages new investigators to undertake or continue stroke-related research. Cheng's award-winning research, Abstract 82, "A Novel Adjuvant Strategy after Endovascular Therapy for Acute Posterior Circulation Stroke: Vertebrobasilar Artery Cooling Infusion (VACI) for Neuroprotection," will be presented. Daniela Renedo, M.D., from Yale School of Medicine, will receive the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award, given to a researcher in training. Renedo's award-winning research, Abstract 91, "Decoding the Etiology of Embolic Ischemic Stroke through Integrated Genomic, Proteomic and Single-cell Transcriptomic Analyses," will be presented.

Zhiyu (Roman) Yan, M.S., a Ph.D. student at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, will receive the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award, which encourages research in vascular cognitive impairment. Yan's award-winning research, Abstract 106, "Plasma Proteomic Signatures Shared Across Cerebrovascular Diseases and Cognitive Decline," will be presented. Sheng Zhang, Ph.D., from Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital in China, will receive the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award, encouraging research in the emergent phase of acute stroke treatment. Zhang's award-winning research, Abstract 150, "Prehospital Blood Pressure Lowering in Likely Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients Is a Cost-Effective Treatment Strategy in Both U.S. and China," will be presented. According to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, stroke is now the #4 leading cause of death in the U.S. The Association's financial information is available here.