Top recognition awarded to 11 stroke researchers for science, brain health contributions

American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2026 annual awards

2026-02-03

(Press-News.org) Embargoed until Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 3, 2026 – 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 will be held in New Orleans, Feb. 3-6, and 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.

The 2026 honorees:

Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.L.S., FAHA, University of California, San Fransico, will receive the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award. Pooja Khatri, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, will be honored with the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke. Raghu Vemuganti, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin – Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, to receive the Thomas Willis Lecture Award. Kazunori Toyoda, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Suita, Japan, will be recognized with the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award. Seemant Chaturvedi, M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, will receive the David G. Sherman Lecture Award. Amar Dhand, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, will be recognized with the Stroke Rehabilitation Award. Soomin Jeong, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, will receive the Stroke Basic Science Award. Zhe Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University in Beijing, China, will receive this year’s Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke. Daniela Renedo, M.D., Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, will receive the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award. Zhiyu (Roman) Yan, M.S., Ph.D. Student in Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, will receive the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award. Sheng Zhang, Ph.D., Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital in Hangzhou, China, will receive the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award. Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.L.S., FAHA, the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award recipient, is an associate dean and professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, chief of staff at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Heart Association, and president of the Society for Equity Neuroscience. He is a clinical epidemiologist and global health scholar, with a focus on reducing the burden of stroke. The Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award recognizes lifetime contributions to the investigation, management, mentorship and community service in the field of racial and ethnic stroke disparities or related disciplines. The award honors the late Edgar J. Kenton III, a former chair of the American Heart Association’s Stroke Council who was an eminent Black vascular neurologist passionate about bridging racial and ethnic disparities in stroke.

Ovbiagele will present the Edgar J. Kenton III lecture in the preconference symposium HEADS-UP, “Stroke Disparities Research Workforce: Wherefore Art Thou,” at 10:18 a.m. CT, Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Pooja Khatri, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke awardee, is chair of the department of neurology at Yale School of Medicine, and chief of neurology at Yale New Haven Hospital and the Yale New Haven Health System. She is also a professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine and is recognized internationally as an expert in stroke care and research. The Feinberg Award is named for the late William M. Feinberg, a prominent stroke clinician-researcher and American Heart Association volunteer who contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the causes of stroke. The award 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” at 11:33 a.m. C T, Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Raghu Vemuganti, Ph.D., the recipient of the Thomas Willis Lecture Award, is the endowed professor of cerebrovascular research and the vice chair for basic research of neurological surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin. His research focus is to decipher the molecular mechanisms of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury and to find new therapies to improve neurological function. The Willis Award is named after the late Thomas Willis, a pioneer physician who provided the first detailed descriptions of the brainstem, cerebellum, ventricles and a hypothesis of their function. The award recognizes 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,” at 11:03 a.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 5.

Kazunori Toyoda, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, the recipient of the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award, is deputy director general of the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Suita, Osaka, Japan. His specialties are stroke diagnosis, treatment and research neurology. He served as a consulting editor of the Stroke journal editorial board when Dr. Sacco was Editor-in-Chief. The late Ralph L. Sacco was the first neurologist to serve as the volunteer president of the American Heart Association. The Sacco Award honors outstanding achievements in mentoring future generations of stroke researchers in the field of cerebrovascular disease.

Toyoda will present his lecture, “One Only Half Dies,” at 11:03 a.m. CT, Friday, Feb. 6.

Seemant Chaturvedi, M.D., the recipient of the David G. Sherman Lecture Award, is a stroke neurologist and the Stewart J. Greenebaum Endowed Professor in Stroke Neurology, and director of the stroke division at the University of Maryland Medical School Stroke Program in Baltimore. His research focuses on stroke prevention and treatment, and maintenance of brain health. The Sherman Award honors the late David G. Sherman, a prominent stroke physician and an internationally recognized leader and researcher in stroke prevention and treatment. The award recognizes 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,” at 11:18 a.m. CT, Friday, Feb. 6.

Amar Dhand, M.D., D.Phil., the Stroke Rehabilitation Award recipient, is an associate professor of neurology in the division of stroke and cerebrovascular disorders in the department of neurology at Mass General Brigham in Boston. The Stroke Rehabilitation Award encourages investigators to undertake or continue research and/or clinical work in the field of 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 at 2:42 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Soomin Jeong, Ph.D., the Stroke Basic Science Award recipient, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Stroke Basic Science Award recognizes 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 at 3:55 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Zhe Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., the recipient of the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke, is a senior attending physician of neurology at Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University in Beijing. The Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke recognizes the late Robert G. Siekert, who was the founding chairman of the American Heart Association’s International Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation, now known as the International Stroke Conference. The award 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 at 7:30 a.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 5.

Daniela Renedo, M.D., recipient of the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award in Stroke, is an endovascular neurosurgery fellow in the department of neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. The award is named after the late Mordecai T. Globus, a renowned cerebrovascular researcher, and is 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 at 7:40 a.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 5.

Zhiyu (Roman) Yan, M.S., is the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award recipient in 2026. Yan is a Ph.D. student in biostatistics at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. The Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award encourages investigators to undertake or continue research or clinical work in the field of vascular cognitive impairment and submit an abstract to the International Stroke Conference. Yan’s award-winning research, Abstract 106, “Plasma Proteomic Signatures Shared Across Cerebrovascular Diseases and Cognitive Decline,” will be presented at 9:15 a.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 5.

Sheng Zhang, Ph.D., the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award recipient, is associate chief physician in the department of neurology at Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital in Hangzhou, China. The Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award encourages investigators to undertake or continue research in the emergent phase of acute stroke treatment and submit an abstract to the International Stroke Conference. 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 at 9:55 a.m. CT, Friday, Feb. 6.

Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, rather, they are curated by independent review panels and are considered based on the potential to add to the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the meeting. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.

Additional Resources:

Photos are available on the right column of the release link The American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2026 Online Program Planner 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. Learn more at www.stroke.org. For more news at American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2026, follow us on X @HeartNews #ISC26 About the American Stroke Association

The American Stroke Association is a relentless force for a world with fewer strokes and longer, healthier lives. We team with millions of volunteers and donors to ensure equitable health and stroke care in all communities. We work to prevent, treat and beat stroke by funding innovative research, fighting for the public’s health, and providing lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based association was created in 1998 as a division of the American Heart Association. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-888-4STROKE or visit stroke.org. Follow us on Facebook and X.

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Top recognition awarded to 11 stroke researchers for science, brain health contributions

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