The American Stroke Association recognized 11 top scientists in stroke and brain health with prestigious awards during the International Stroke Conference 2026, held in New Orleans from Feb. 3-6. The awards honor individual professional achievements and contributions to stroke and brain health care and research, highlighting groundbreaking work that could shape future treatments and understanding of cerebrovascular diseases.
Among the honorees, Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.L.S., FAHA, from the University of California, San Francisco, received the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award for his lifetime contributions to reducing racial and ethnic stroke disparities. Ovbiagele, who also serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Heart Association, will present his lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Pooja Khatri, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, from Yale University, received the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke for her international expertise in stroke care and research. Her lecture, “Clinical Trial Innovations: The Future is Now,” is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Raghu Vemuganti, Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received the Thomas Willis Lecture Award for his basic science research on ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury. Kazunori Toyoda, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, from Japan’s National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, was honored with the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award for mentoring future stroke researchers. Seemant Chaturvedi, M.D., from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, received the David G. Sherman Lecture Award for his work in stroke prevention and treatment.
Six additional scientists were recognized for new research findings presented at the conference. Amar Dhand, M.D., Ph.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, received the Stroke Rehabilitation Award for his study on a lightweight machine learning algorithm to measure social interactions in stroke survivors. Soomin Jeong, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania, earned the Stroke Basic Science Award for her research on restoring the blood-brain barrier after stroke using VCAM-targeted MFSD2A mRNA nanoparticle therapy. Zhe Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., from Beijing Luhe Hospital, received the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award for a novel adjuvant strategy involving vertebrobasilar artery cooling infusion after endovascular therapy.
Daniela Renedo, M.D., from Yale School of Medicine, received the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award for her work decoding the etiology of embolic ischemic stroke through genomic and proteomic analyses. Zhiyu (Roman) Yan, M.S., a Ph.D. student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, received the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award for identifying plasma proteomic signatures shared across cerebrovascular diseases and cognitive decline. Sheng Zhang, Ph.D., from Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, received the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award for his cost-effectiveness analysis of prehospital blood pressure lowering in likely intracerebral hemorrhage patients.
The conference, a world premier meeting for stroke researchers and clinicians, underscores the importance of ongoing research in stroke and brain health. 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. More information can be found at www.stroke.org. For additional details on the conference and awardees, visit the online program planner.
The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, continues to fund innovative research and advocate for equitable stroke care. The association’s strict policies ensure that its scientific content remains unbiased, as outlined in its funding disclosure.
