Awards

The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference^® (AAIC^®) provides the Alzheimer's Association with the opportunity to present awards to some of the most prominent leaders in the field. These prestigious awards recognize the work of distinguished Alzheimer's researchers, as well as those who are just beginning their career in this vital field.

Congratulations to this year's awardees! Read the press releases announcing the winners of the scientific awards presented at AAIC 2024, as well as the winners of the Jerome H. Stone Philanthropy Award for Alzheimer's Research.

On This Page:

• AAIC Lifetime Achievement Awards in Alzheimer's Disease Research
• Blas Frangione Early Career Achievement Award
• Bill Thies Award for Distinguished Service to ISTAART
• Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer's Research
• Jerome H. Stone Philanthropy Award for Alzheimer's Research
• de Leon Prizes in Neuroimaging

AAIC Lifetime Achievement Awards in Alzheimer's Disease Research

The AAIC Lifetime Achievement Awards recognize a senior investigator whose contributions, whether they have been in research, leadership or mentorship, have shown a lasting impact on the field and whose body of work has demonstrated a career-long commitment towards progress against Alzheimer's and dementia.

The awards are named in honor of Henry Wisniewski, M.D., Ph.D.; Khalid Iqbal, Ph.D.; and Bengt Winblad, M.D., Ph.D. — co-founders of the Alzheimer's Association scientific conference, now known as AAIC. Since its inception and first iteration they each held key leadership roles in planning and conceptualizing the conference:

• Khalid Iqbal and Bengt Winblad both served in leadership roles from the conference's first iteration in 1988, including as co-chairs of the scientific program committee until 2008 and as committee members through 2013.
• After a lifetime of contributions to the field of Alzheimer's and dementia research, Henry Wisniewski passed away in 1999; to recognize his leadership and to show the Association's gratitude, one of the lifetime achievement awards is named in his memory.

2024 winners:

• Khalid Iqbal Lifetime Achievement Award: Ralph A. Nixon, Ph.D.
• Henry Wisniewski Lifetime Achievement Award: Ricardo Nitrini, Ph.D.
• Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award: Goldie S. Byrd, Ph.D.

Blas Frangione Early Career Achievement Award

The Blas Frangione Early Career Achievement Award recognizes early career researchers whose cutting edge research in Alzheimer’s and dementia has the potential to impact the field by propelling it in novel directions. It also recognizes a researcher’s demonstrated personal and professional qualities that show promise for a productive and impactful scientific career in the Alzheimer’s and dementia field.

The Blas Frangione Award was established by and named for Blas Frangione, M.D., Ph.D., who is Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Psychiatry and Research Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center. The Blas Frangione Foundation supports research in neuroscience.

2024 winner: Eduardo Zimmer, Ph.D.

Bill Thies Award for Distinguished Service to ISTAART

The award honors William (Bill) Thies who passed away on Aug. 16, 2020. During his tenure from 1998 to 2020, as the Alzheimer's Association's chief medical and scientific officer, and then later as its senior medical science advisor, he was instrumental in bringing AAIC under the umbrella of Association activities, played a key role in launching the peer-reviewed journal Alzheimer's & Dementia^®: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, as well as the Association's Research Roundtable. During his tenure, the Association’s research grant budget more than doubled.

In addition, Thies was committed to the creation of a professional society that gathered health care professionals and researchers focused on Alzheimer's and all dementias. That society, created in 2008, was ISTAART. Dr. Randy Nixon, an ISTAART member himself, says, "A further legacy of Bill's is the ISTAART program currently linking thousands of Alzheimer's researchers. Its success owes much to Bill's leadership."

2024 winner: Steven T. DeKosky, M.D.

Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer's Research

The Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer's Research is presented to the senior author of the most impactful study published in Alzheimer's research over the preceding two years. (For AAIC 2024: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2023). The recipient(s) must be able to present a 25-minute plenary presentation at AAIC 2024.

Only members from the International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) may nominate candidates.

Inge Grundke-Iqbal served as Professor and Head of Neuroimmunology at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities from 1977 until her passing in September 2012. She was a world-renowned neuroscientist and Alzheimer disease researcher. She was the author/co-author of over 250 scientific publications in prestigious American and international journals and books. Dr. Grundke-Iqbal made several seminal discoveries in the biology of Alzheimer's disease and related conditions. Her discovery of the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau opened a whole new area of research in neurodegeneration, especially Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. Her research contributions won her several U.S. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health and non-federal research grants and honors. Dr. Grundke-Iqbal served as a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (now known as the Alzheimer's Association International Conference).

2024 winner: Tara Spires-Jones, DPhil

Jerome H. Stone Philanthropy Award for Alzheimer's Research

The Jerome H. Stone Philanthropy Award for Alzheimer's Research honors the legacy of Mr. Jerome Stone, a visionary who was among the first to call for investment in Alzheimer's research. Inspired by the loving memory of his late wife, Evelyn T. Stone, he took the helm of the Alzheimer's movement as the primary founder of the Alzheimer's Association. Mr. Stone was renowned for his leadership, determination and generosity in the fight against Alzheimer’s, and for his support of research in particular. For many years, he served as the honorary chair of the Alzheimer's Association National Board of Directors. Mr. Stone passed away on Jan. 1, 2015 at the age of 101.

This award, given in his name, honors the world's top philanthropists for advancing scientific progress toward treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease through their generous commitment to research.

There will not be a call for nominations for this award.

2024 winners:

• John and Crystal Beuerlein
• Edward Jones

de Leon Prizes in Neuroimaging

The de Leon Prizes in Neuroimaging have recognized scientists judged to have published “best papers” in the field of neuroimaging of neurodegenerative processes.

The paper has to focus on neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia causing mechanisms. For AAIC 2024, the paper must be published in any peer-reviewed journal between Jan. 1, 2023 – Dec. 31, 2023 and be in manuscript or final galley format at the time of the award nomination.

Winners need to be verified as an ISTAART Neuroimaging PIA member at the time of the announcement.

2024 winners:

• Senior Scientist: Vincent Doré, Ph.D.
• Junior Scientist: Nicolai Franzmeier, Ph.D.
• Trainee: Gillian Theresa Coughlan, Ph.D.