These awards are funded by the American Brain Foundation
Awards
Below are our 2023 recipients. View previous award winners here.
Advocacy Awards
Public Leadership in Neurology Award
Founder of HuffPost, Arianna Huffington will be honored for raising public awareness of the importance of sleep and brain health through her writing, speaking and by founding Thrive Global, a company that uses science to improve mental and physical well-being.
2023 Recipient
Arianna Huffington
Ambassador Award
Celebrated singer and guitarist, Peter Frampton, will be honored for elevating public awareness of Inclusion-Body Myositis and for establishing the Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund at Johns Hopkins University to to improve the lives of patients living with myositis and to ultimately find a cure.
2023 recipient
Peter Frampton
Board Chair Award
Jane Ransom has been the executive director of the American Brain Foundation since its formation as an independent organization in 2015. Under her leadership, ABF has enjoyed remarkable success. Ms. Ransom has been a tireless and fierce advocate for ABF, a creative force, and a highly effective ambassador for the foundation. She is an extraordinary leader who is highly respected and admired by her staff, board members, and partners. ABF and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) owe Ms. Ransom a massive debt of gratitude for all that she’s done to advance the research agenda for the foundation, for AAN, for early career researchers, and most importantly, for patients and their loved ones.
2023 recipient
Jane Ransom
Scientific Awards
Scientific Breakthrough Award
The Scientific Breakthrough Award is given to an individual or group whose research has led to meaningful advances for the care of patients living with neurological disease. Funded by the American Brain Foundation.
Their collective body of work has defined and transformed the field of autoimmune and paraneoplastic neurology and has had a major impact on the diagnosis and care of patients with autoimmune neurological diseases around the world.
2023 Recipients
Josep Dalmau, MD, PhD, FAAN
Vanda Lennon, MD, PhD
American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Scientific Awards
Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s, and Related Diseases
The Potamkin Prize is the highest honor in Alzheimer’s research that recognizes premier scientific research in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Funded by the Potamkin Family through the American Brain Foundation and presented in partnership with the American Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Gorno-Tempini is an outstanding clinician-scientist who has devoted her career to the study of language disorders that have revealed major insights into neurodegenerative diseases, brain development, and normal cognitive function. Her work has provided clinical-pathological correlation that now enables the diagnosis of specific neuropathological diseases that cause progressive aphasia. This work also has profound implications for our understanding of dyslexia, and how early brain development may affect later life vulnerability to neurodegeneration. These studies have also shed light on how the normal brain functions, and how language is produced. Throughout all this work, Dr. Gorno-Tempini has shown a dedication to mentoring and training young scientists.
2023 RECIPIENT
Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD
Sheila Essey Award: An Award for ALS Research
The Sheila Essey Award recognizes an individual who has made significant research contributions in the search for the cause of, prevention of, and cure for ALS. Funded by the Essey family through the American Brain Foundation, and presented in partnership with the American Academy of Neurology and the ALS Association.
Dr. Virginia Lee is a most worthy recipient of the 2023 Sheila Essey Award. She is among the most accomplished investigators in the field of ALS and neurodegenerative disease. Her long track record in mentoring younger colleagues will continue to impact the field for generations to come. The original contributions from her laboratory of TDP-43 neuropathology provide the keystone to our current views of ALS pathogenesis. Her record of scholarship is unparalleled in a number of fields of neurodegeneration and her contributions to ALS are outstanding.
2023 RECIPIENT
Virginia Lee, PhD
Additional AAN Scientific Awards:
Bruce S. Schoenberg International Award in Neuroepidemiology
Dreifuss-Penry Epilepsy Award
Founders Award
Harold Wolff-John Graham: An Award for Headache/Facial Pain Research
Irwin Schatz Award for Autonomic Disorders
John Stolk Award in Movement Disorders for Young Investigators
Neuro-oncology Investigator Award
Neuro-oncology Scientific Award
Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology
Michael S. Pessin Stroke Leadership Prize
Mitchell B. Max Award for Neuropathic Pain
Movement Disorders Research Award
Neuroendocrine Research Award
Sleep Science Award
S. Weir Mitchell Award
Wayne A. Hening Sleep Medicine Investigator Award
Lifetime and Humanitarian Awards
Ted M. Burns Humanism in Neurology Award
The Ted M. Burns Humanism in Neurology Award recognizes the influence of the most benevolent and innovative in the field of neurology, celebrates neurologists whose work embodies humanism, and inspires neurologists to improve health care delivery and the lives of their colleagues and patients. Funded by the Ted M. Burns Humanism in Neurology Award Fund of the American Brain Foundation.
Dr. Saylor is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins, but spends the majority of the year in Zambia, where she started the country’s first Neurology residency program and first neurology inpatient service, and continues to lead the neurology clinical and research enterprise at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Her desire to improve not only neurologic care in sub-Saharan Africa but to establish a capacity for continuing to provide outstanding care by training future leaders in neurology there, has led to her choices and her impactful career.
2023 Recipient
Deanna Saylor, MD, MHS
Association of Indian Neurologists in America Lifetime Achievement Award
The Association of Indian Neurologists in America Lifetime Achievement (AINA) Award recognizes a leader in neurology by their peers. The recipient will be a North American neurologist chosen based on their dedication to advancing the training of North American neurologists of Indian origin and promoting innovation and research in the field of neurology. Sponsored by the Association of Indian Neurologists in America Fund of the American Brain Foundation.
Dr. Singh joined Creighton University at the time when it was a division with 1 full-time faculty. In less than a decade Dr. Singh has led development of the Neuroscience Institute and Service Line at Creighton University, which now provides the region’s most advanced neuroscience care. Dr. Singh was only the second neurologist of Indian origin to be promoted to chairman at a major university, and over the last 11 years he has mentored many other neurologists to rise to a similar level at various institutions. Dr. Singh was also the president at AINA during the COVID 19 pandemic and he not only helped the organization survive during this time but he also helped establish scholarship funds to help train Neurologists from India. He has been a role model for many Chairs, Faculty, residents and students in both the United States and in India.
2023 Recipient
Sanjay Singh, MD, FAAN
Mridha Spirit of Neurology Humanitarian Award
The Mridha Spirit of Neurology Award is a humanitarian award for a neurologist or neuroscientist working in an impoverished community of the world. Funded by the American Brain Foundation and the philanthropy of Dr. and Mrs. Mridha, and endowed by gifts to Dr. Debasish and Chinu Mridha Endowment Fund.
Dr. Birbeck is the Edward A. & Alma Rykenboer Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester. She spends at least six months annually in Zambia and Malawi and, for nearly 30 years, has been a leader in advancing the care of patients with neurologic disorders in the region. Her clinical care, research, and capacity building efforts have had a ripple effect, revolutionizing care for patients in sub-Saharan Africa while also legitimizing global health as a neurologic subspeciality.
2023 Recipient
Gretchen Birbeck, MD, MPH, DTMH, FAAN
Mridha Spirit of Neurology Humanitarian Award
The Mridha Spirit of Neurology Award is a humanitarian award for a neurologist or neuroscientist working in an impoverished community of the world. Funded by the American Brain Foundation and the philanthropy of Dr. and Mrs. Mridha, and endowed by gifts to Dr. Debasish and Chinu Mridha Endowment Fund.
For over six decades, Professor Bhim Sen Singhal has worked tirelessly to help patients with debilitating neurological diseases. He has devoted himself to developing the field of Neurology across India. Recognizing the need to promote patient care and neurological education in India, Dr. Singhal secured philanthropic donations to establish Neurology Foundation India, and Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society of India. He is revered by patients and colleagues as a humanitarian, master clinician, teacher, mentor, and friend. He is known for his extreme humility, dedication, impeccable work ethic, and graceful demeanor. He is recognized as an “institution unto himself” in the field of Neurology in India.
2023 Recipient
Bhim Sen Singhal, MD, FAAN
Mridha Spirit of Neurology Humanitarian Award
The Mridha Spirit of Neurology Award is a humanitarian award for a neurologist or neuroscientist working in an impoverished community of the world. Funded by the American Brain Foundation and the philanthropy of Dr. and Mrs. Mridha, and endowed by gifts to Dr. Debasish and Chinu Mridha Endowment Fund.
As pharmacies closed in cities around Ukraine, medication was no longer easily accessible and when humanitarian aid began arriving, these critical medications were not included. Through the efforts of Dr. Tychkivska and her colleagues at the Ukraine Neurology Initiative (UNI), large volumes of epilepsy medications have been shipped into the country. She works tirelessly to distribute medication to children in need around Ukraine, while regularly re-assessing needs of individual drugs so that the limited funds at her disposal can be used in the most effective way possible. In addition to performing this incredible work, she remains a full time physician caring for her patients, as well as fighting for the life of her family as they live through this brutal war. Her dedication to her patients and her country has undoubtedly saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands of children, making her the definition of a real life superhero.
2023 Recipient
