American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2023
Embargoed until 8 a.m. CT/9 a.m. ET, Tuesday, February 7, 2023
DALLAS, February 7, 2023 – Ten scientists leading
the way in stroke research will be recognized for their exceptional
achievements during the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023,
to be held in person in Dallas and virtually Feb. 7-10. The world’s
premier meeting for researchers and clinicians is dedicated to the
science of stroke and brain health.
The illustrious group of awardees includes four groundbreaking
scientists who have devoted their careers to stroke research, including
the recipient of the newly renamed Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke
Research Mentor Award. The award was renamed to honor Dr. Sacco, a past
president of the American Heart Association and American Stroke
Association, who passed away on Jan. 17. The award honors Dr. Sacco’s
exceptional contributions to the field of stroke research and to the
Association, as well as his instrumental role as a leading stroke mentor
throughout his career. Six more scientists will be honored for their
notable new research.
The honorees are:
- Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina, will receive the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award.
- Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina, also will receive the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award.
- Zena Vexler, Ph.D., University California San Francisco, Weill Institute for Neurosciences in San Francisco, will be awarded the Thomas Willis Lecture Award.
- George Howard, Dr.P.H., University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, Alabama, will receive the David G. Sherman Lecture Award.
- José Biller, M.D., FAHA, Loyola University Chicago
Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Health System in Maywood,
Illinois, will be honored with the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke.
- Daniela Renedo, M.D., Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, will receive the Stroke Basic Science Award.
- Shun-Ming Ting, M.Sc., University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, will receive the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award.
- Kyle Kern, M.D., M.S., National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes
of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, will receive the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award.
- Brian Mac Grory, M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O., FAHA, Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, will receive the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award.
- Kent Simmonds, D.O., Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, will be awarded the Stroke Rehabilitation Award.
- Eva A. Mistry, M.B.B.S., M.S.C.I., FAHA, University of Cincinnati in Ohio, will receive this year’s Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke.
Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, the winner of the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award,
is a professor of neurology, vice chair of research, Stroke Division
chief and co-director of the Neuroscience Clinical Trial and Innovation
Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem,
North Carolina. Bushnell is passionate about inpatient and outpatient
stroke treatment across the continuum, especially the transition of
post-acute care and secondary prevention. Her research spans women’s
issues related to stroke including sex differences in risk and outcomes.
She also served as chair of the first AHA Guideline for the Prevention
of Stroke in Women. 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. Bushnell will present her Edgar J. Kenton III
lecture, “Achieving BP Goals and Addressing Inequities in BP Management
after Stroke: It All Starts with Stakeholder Engagement,” at 9:30 a.m. CT, Tuesday, February 7.
Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, also is the recipient of the newly renamed Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award. The Stroke Research Mentor Award recognizes
outstanding achievements in mentoring future generations of stroke
researchers in the field of cerebrovascular disease. Throughout her
career, Bushnell has mentored undergraduate and medical students,
neurology residents, stroke fellows, junior faculty and nurse
practitioners on stroke research projects. Bushnell will present her
lecture, “Stroke Research and Academic Learning Health Systems:
Mentoring Challenges and Opportunities,” at 11:19 a.m. CT, Thursday,
February 9.
Zena Vexler, Ph.D., the winner of the Thomas Willis Lecture Award,
is professor and director of research at the Neonatal Brain Disorders
(NBD) Center in the department of neurology at the University
California, San Francisco and Weill Institute for Neurosciences in San
Francisco. The Thomas Willis Award recognizes contributions to the
investigation and management of stroke basic science. Vexler’s research
interests include the mechanisms of perinatal arterial ischemic stroke
(PAIS) and childhood arterial ischemic stroke (CAIS), and how brain
maturation at the time of stroke affects brain injury and repair. She
has been an editorial board member for several journals, including
Stroke, the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Fluids and
Barriers of the CNS and Pediatric Research. As laboratory director and
director of research for the NBD Center, she has trained more than 30
post-doctoral fellows and physician scientists from around the world.
Vexler’s lecture, “Immune-neurovascular Interactions in
Experimental Perinatal and Childhood Stroke,” will be presented at 11:30
a.m. CT, Wednesday, February 8.
George Howard, Dr.P.H., the winner of the David G. Sherman Lecture Award,
is a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham. He received his training in biostatistics from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Sherman Award
honors David G. Sherman, M.D., 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. Howard’s extensive experience includes biostatistics,
cerebrovascular/cardiovascular epidemiology, data management and the
direction of coordinating centers of multicenter studies. His career has
a dual focus of observational studies in cardiovascular epidemiology
(with a recent focus to understand and reduce disparities in stroke and
other cardiovascular diseases), and in the direction of coordinating
centers for multi-center, randomized clinical trials. Howard will
present his lecture, “Reducing the Disparities in Stroke. Have We Been Aiming at the Right Targets?” at 11:02 a.m. CT, Thursday, February 9.
José Biller, M.D., FAHA, the awardee of the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke,
is professor of neurology and neurological surgery and chairperson of
the department of neurology at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch
School of Medicine at Loyola University Health System in Maywood,
Illinois. The William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical
Stroke is named for the 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. Biller is the recent past chief editor
of the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, past chief editor
of Frontiers in Neurology, and an editorial board member and reviewer
for an array of other national and international journals and
publications. He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and
book chapters and given more than 750 lectures around the world.
Biller’s lecture, “Identifying Stroke Mimics, Chameleons, and Beyond: A
visual overview,” will be presented at 11:02 a.m. CT, Friday, February
10.
Daniela Renedo, M.D., the winner of the Stroke Basic Science Award, is a postdoctoral research fellow working in the departments of neurosurgery and neurology
at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, co-mentored
by Dr. Charles Matouk and Dr. Guido Falcone. She completed her medical
degree at Austral University School of Medicine followed by neurosurgery
residency at the Hospital de Clinicas “Jose de San Martin,” both in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then, she emigrated to the United States to
pursue advanced research training in population genetics, genomic
medicine, data sciences and single-cell analysis. Supported by a grant
from the American Heart Association, Renedo’s work focuses on
understanding the socioeconomic and biological underpinnings of
neurovascular diseases. The Stroke Basic Science Award recognizes
outstanding basic or translational science that is laboratory-based.
Renedo’s winning presentation (Abstract 15), “Single-cell Immune
Landscape of Human Clot Retrieved at Mechanical Thrombectomy:
Association with Stroke Origin,” will be presented at 7:30 a.m. CT,
Wednesday, February 8.
Shun-Ming Ting, M.Sc., the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New
Investigator Award in Stroke winner, is a Ph.D. student in
neuroimmunology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston. This award recognizes Globus’ major contributions to research
in cerebrovascular disease and his outstanding contributions to the
elucidation of the role of neurotransmitters in ischemia and trauma; the
interactions among multiple neurotransmitters; mechanisms of
hypothermic neuroprotection; and the role of oxygen radical mechanisms
and nitric oxide in brain injury. Ting’s award-winning presentation
(Abstract 16), “Retinoid X Receptors (RXR) Play Essential Roles in
Improving Post-ischemic Stroke Recovery in Aged Brain by Restoring
Age-associated Dysfunctions of Microglia/macrophages” will be presented
at 7:42 a.m. CT, Wednesday, February 8.
Kyle Kern, M.D., M.S., is the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Award
recipient. He is a clinical research fellow in the intramural stroke
branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a
division of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
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. Kern’s award-winning presentation (Abstract 55), “Intensive
Blood Pressure Treatment Remodels Brain Perivascular Spaces: A
Secondary Analysis of The SPRINT MIND Trial,” will be presented at 3:30 p.m. CT, Wednesday, February 8.
Brian Mac Grory, M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O., FAHA, the winner of the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award,
is an associate professor of neurology & ophthalmology at Duke
University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. 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. Mac Grory’s
winning presentation (Abstract 67), “Endovascular Thrombectomy in
Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke and Recent Use of Oral Vitamin
K-Antagonists: The Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Program” will be
presented at 7:30 a.m. CT, Thursday, February 9.
Kent Simmonds, D.O., Ph.D., the Stroke Rehabilitation Award
winner, is a second-year resident at UT Southwestern Medical Center in
Dallas, Texas. The Stroke Rehabilitation Award encourages investigators
to undertake or continue research and/or clinical work in the field of
stroke rehabilitation. Simmonds’ winning presentation (Abstract 146),
“Racial Disparities in The Treatment of Post-stroke Complications Among
Acute Stroke Patients,” will be presented at 9:15 a.m. CT, Friday,
February 10.
Eva A. Mistry, M.B.B.S., M.S.C.I., FAHA, the winner of the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke,
is an assistant professor of clinical neurology and rehabilitation
medicine at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. The Siekert New
Investigator Award in Stroke recognizes 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. Mistry’s award-winning
presentation (Abstract LB18), “Blood Pressure After
Endovascular Stroke Treatment (BEST)-II: A Randomized Clinical,” will be
presented at 11:17 a.m. CT, Friday, February 10.
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Additional Resources:
The American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference
(ISC) is the world’s premier meeting dedicated to the science and
treatment of cerebrovascular disease. ISC 2023 will be held in person in
Dallas and virtually, Feb. 8-10, 2023. The three-day conference will
feature more than a thousand compelling presentations in categories that
emphasize basic, clinical and translational sciences as research
evolves toward a better understanding of stroke pathophysiology with the
goal of developing more effective therapies. Engage in the
International Stroke Conference on social media via #ISC23.
About the American Stroke Association
The American Stroke Association is devoted to saving people from
stroke — the No. 2 cause of death in the world and a leading cause of
serious disability. We team with millions of volunteers to fund
innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies and
provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat stroke.
The Dallas-based association officially launched 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, Twitter.
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For Media Inquiries and AHA Expert Perspective:
AHA Communications & Media Relations in Dallas: 214-706-1173; ahacommunications@heart.org
