The American Stroke Association's highest honor - the Thomas Willis Award - will be presented to a respected leader in neonatal brain injury at the International Stroke Conference 2010.

Donna M. Ferriero, M.D., professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of child neurology at the University of California-San Francisco, will deliver the Willis Lecture: "Little Brains, Big Consequences" Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 11:30 a.m. CT.

The American Stroke Association also will present awards to:

- J. Donald Easton, M.D., clinical professor of neurology at the University of California-San Francisco, who will receive the first David G. Sherman Lecture Award.

- Markku Kaste, M.D., Ph.D., emeritus professor of neurology at the Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland, who will be honored with the William Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke.

- Eric Smith, M.D., assistant professor in the department of clinical neurosciences and Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary, who will be given the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator in Stroke Award.

- Huichun Xu, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at University of California at Davis and University of California, San Francisco, who will receive the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award.

- Lucas Restrepo, M.D., clinical assistant professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who will receive the Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award.

Ferriero is lauded for "groundbreaking work" detailing the molecular and cellular mechanisms of hypoxic-ischemic injury in the developing brain. Her accomplishments in the laboratory are matched by an "equally inspiring body of work translating those advances to the clinical realm" - including playing key roles in the success of the first trial of hypothermia for neonatal brain injury, the first multicenter randomized clinical trial of a neuroprotective intervention in childhood ischemic brain injury, and making major contributions in neuroimaging and clinical pathophysiology of neonatal brain injury.

While her research on hypoxic-ischemic injury continues into its second decade, she is also organizing a multicenter trial for neonatal seizure treatment and initiating a neonatal stroke clinical trial for erythropoietin, a hormone product produced by the kidneys that plays a role in the brain's response to neural injury.

Her other honors include being named one of the "Best Doctors in America" every year between 2005 and 2009 and being recognized by numerous national and international organizations for her research, mentoring leadership and clinical work. Ferriero has devoted many hours to professional organizations, including the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the National Institutes of Health. A member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, she has authored more than 180 research papers and served as a reviewer for more than two dozen scientific journals.

The Willis Award - which recognizes "major contributions to the understanding of stroke over a sustained period" - honors pioneer physician Thomas Willis (1621-1675), who is credited with providing the first detailed descriptions of the brain stem, cerebellum and ventricles along with hypotheses on their function.

The Sherman Award, given to Easton, was created this year in honor of David G. Sherman, M.D., a prominent stroke physician and internationally recognized leader and researcher in stroke prevention and treatment. It's awarded to a Fellow of the American Heart Association's Stroke Council who is actively engaged in ongoing research in clinical stroke and has made significant contributions to clinical research in stroke.

Easton was professor and chairman of the department of clinical neuroscience at Brown Medical School and neurologist-in-chief at the Rhode Island Hospital from 1986-2009. On Jan. 1, 2010, he assumed his new position at the University of California-San Francisco.

He has served on numerous steering, advisory, organizing and monitoring committees for many clinical trials and congresses. He also has served on the editorial boards of several journals and has published more than 270 journal articles, books, chapters and miscellaneous publications.

The David G. Sherman Award Lecture is presented at 11:30 a.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 26. Easton will discuss the "TIA Saga."

The Feinberg Award honors "significant achievement in the clinical investigation and management of stroke." Those who nominated Kaste said he is an internationally influential neurologist, clinical trialist - among the top 10 published authors of stroke research globally - and a great teacher.

He has authored more than 300 research manuscripts and served on the steering committees for more than 30 randomized international clinical stroke trials. Among his many research findings, Kaste and colleagues showed that ethanol intoxication, upper respiratory infection and snoring/sleep apnea are risk factors for stroke. He is a pioneer and champion of stroke unit care and thrombolysis in stroke and has founded many stroke organizations including Finnish, Scandinavian, European and World stroke organizations.

He has been recognized extensively in Europe and was granted the Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland by the president of Finland.

The Feinberg Award is named for Dr. William Feinberg (1952-1997), a prominent stroke clinician-researcher and American Heart Association volunteer who contributed to a fuller understanding of the causes of stroke. The award is supported by an educational grant from the pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim.

Kaste will give his lecture, "How to reduce the burden of stroke: Lessons from the past will help guide the activities needed in the future," Wed., Feb. 24 at 12:10 p.m. CT.

The three other awards recognize noteworthy research presented by young investigators. Smith was recognized for abstract 71 (4 p.m. Feb. 24), "Prediction of In-hospital Stroke Mortality Using Data from the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Registry," which found that individual risk of death following stroke can be predicted, with good discrimination, using a single prediction model for all stroke types.

The Siekert Award is named for the founding chair of the International Stroke Conference.

Xu's work - abstract 49 (3:12 p.m. Feb. 24), "Distinctive RNA Expression Profiles of White Matter Hyperintensities in the Blood of Human Subjects Using Genome-Wide Microarray Analyses" - found that unique molecular expression associated with white matter hyperintensities suggests a potential role of systemic inflammatory processes in their development.

The Globus Award is supported by the University of Miami and is named for the late renowned cerebrovascular researcher Mordecai Y.T. Globus.

Restrepo is lauded for abstract 1 (7:30 a.m. Feb. 24), "Stroke Mimics in a Prehospital Stroke Treatment Trial," a study suggesting that prehospital screening and neurologist phone screening can increase the number of potential stroke patients receiving magnesium sulfate by paramedics while in the field with low rate of conditions that seem like stroke, but are not.

Source
American Heart Association