The American Stroke Association will recognize 11 top scientists in stroke and brain health for their exceptional professional achievements and contributions to stroke and brain health care and research during the International Stroke Conference 2026, held in New Orleans from Feb. 3-6. The conference, a premier global meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to stroke science, will feature awardees including five groundbreaking scientists who have devoted their careers to stroke research and six others recognized for new research findings presented at the conference.
The honorees include Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.L.S., FAHA, from the University of California, San Francisco, who will receive the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award. This award recognizes lifetime contributions to the investigation, management, mentorship and community service in the field of racial and ethnic stroke disparities. Ovbiagele is an associate dean and professor of neurology at UCSF, 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 will present his lecture at the preconference symposium HEADS-UP on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Pooja Khatri, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, from Yale University, will be honored with the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke. Khatri is chair of the department of neurology at Yale School of Medicine and chief of neurology at Yale New Haven Hospital. She will present her lecture titled “Clinical Trial Innovations: The Future is Now” on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Raghu Vemuganti, Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, will receive the Thomas Willis Lecture Award for his contributions to basic science in stroke. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury. Vemuganti will present his lecture “Role of RNAs in Ischemic Brain Damage” on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Kazunori Toyoda, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, from the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Suita, Japan, will be recognized with the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award for mentoring future stroke researchers. He will present his lecture “One Only Half Dies” on Friday, Feb. 6.
Seemant Chaturvedi, M.D., from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, will receive the David G. Sherman Lecture Award for lifetime contributions to stroke prevention and treatment. He will present his lecture “The Eternal Quest for Optimal Stroke Prevention” on Friday, Feb. 6.
Amar Dhand, M.D., D.Phil., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, will be recognized with the Stroke Rehabilitation Award for his research on a machine learning algorithm measuring social interactions in stroke survivors. His award-winning abstract DP098 will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Soomin Jeong, Ph.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, will receive the Stroke Basic Science Award for research on restoring the blood-brain barrier after stroke using nanoparticle therapy. Her abstract 55 will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
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 for research on a novel adjuvant strategy after endovascular therapy. His abstract 82 will be presented on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Daniela Renedo, M.D., from Yale School of Medicine, will receive the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award in Stroke for research on decoding embolic stroke etiology through genomic analyses. Her abstract 91 will be presented on Thursday, Feb. 5.
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 for research on plasma proteomic signatures shared across cerebrovascular diseases. His abstract 106 will be presented on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Sheng Zhang, Ph.D., from Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital in China, will receive the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award for research on prehospital blood pressure lowering in intracerebral hemorrhage patients. His abstract 150 will be presented on Friday, Feb. 6.
The American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2026 highlights the importance of ongoing research in reducing stroke burden. 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 about the conference and the American Stroke Association can be found at www.stroke.org.
