Warlow is scheduled to receive the award and deliver the prestigious Willis Lecture today at the American Stroke Association's 28th International Stroke Conference. He will lecture on: "Evaluating Treatments in Stroke Too Slowly: Time to Get Out of Second Gear."
Since becoming the first professor of medical neurology at the University of Edinburgh in 1987, Warlow has assembled a team of senior clinical researchers studying many critical aspects of stroke: clinical trials, meta-analysis, imaging, and epidemiology. His research interests also include motor neuron disease, intracranial vascular malformations and medically unexplained symptoms. He is president of the Association of British Neurologists.
The Thomas Willis Award honors Dr. Willis (1621-1675), who is credited with providing the first detailed description of the brain stem, cerebellum and ventricles along with extensive hypotheses about their functions. The award recognizes a senior investigator who has made outstanding contributions to the understanding of stroke over a sustained period.
The Willis Award is one of four being announced at the meeting, sponsored by the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association.
The association's second major honor, the William M. Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke, will be presented to American neurologist and investigator Joseph P. Broderick, M.D., a professor and chairperson of neurology at the University of Cincinnati. He will present a lecture titled "Stroke Therapy in the Year 2025: Burden, Breakthroughs, and Barriers to Progress," on Friday, February 14.
Broderick is an acclaimed expert on the epidemiology of stroke. He is director of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team and Cerebrovascular Research Program at the University of Cincinnati. He is principal investigator for six ongoing multi-center studies of aspects of acute stroke including genetics, incidence, outcomes and treatments. The regional population-based laboratory founded by Broderick has conducted major trials, including the largest study of stroke incidence and mortality in the United States.
The William M. Feinberg Award, which is supported by an educational grant from the pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, recognizes significant achievement in the clinical investigation and management of stroke. William Feinberg (1952-1997) was a prominent stroke researcher and dedicated volunteer of the American Heart Association. His research contributed to the understanding of stroke mechanisms, the role of coagulation marker proteins in stroke and to clinical treatment and stroke prevention.
Two other awards recognize noteworthy research accomplishment by young investigators:
Kon Chu, M.D., of Seoul National University Hospital's Department of Neurology in South Korea receives the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award, which is supported by the University of Miami. His winning research report is "Intravenous Transplantation of Human Neural Stem Cells Can Restore the Long-Term Functional Deficits in the Chronic Stage of Cerebral Infarction" (Abstract 17).
The Mordecai Y. T. Globus New Investigator Award honors that researcher's numerous contributions to cerebrovascular disease research including the role of free radicals and nitric oxide in brain injury. Thomas Pfefferkorn, M.D., of Ludwig-Maximilians Universitaet in Muenchen, Germany, wins the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award. His report is titled, "Toxicity of rt-PA in Experimental Focal Cerebral Ischemia with Delayed Reperfusion: Protective Effect of BB-94" (Abstract 15).
The Robert G. Seikert New Investigator Award is named for the founding chairperson of the American Heart Association's International Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation, now known as the International Stroke Conference.
CONTACT:
For information Feb.13 – 15 call:
Carole Bullock or Bridgette McNeill
at the Phoenix Civic Plaza
(602) 514-7881