World Brain Mapping Foundation

World Brain Mapping Foundation

Advancing Trailblazing Approaches to Cure Neurological Disorders

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Previous Honorees

We are grateful to have leadership team filled with inspiring and dedicated members with a broad range of experience.

Gathering For Cure Awards

The Beacon Award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary courage and dedication for increasing awareness about neurological diseases, and for patients and their families who have exceeded expectations in fighting a neurological disorder with unprecedented courage. The Beacon Award identifies remarkable individuals who set the highest standards for increasing awareness of, and fighting, neurological diseases.

The Humanitarian Award is given to physicians and scientists who have contributed significantly to survival and quality of life of patients across the Globe.

The Pioneer in Technology Award is presented to the trail blazing companies and their CEOs/presidents who have facilitated the development of pioneering technologies through interdisciplinary approaches that have impacted diagnostics, treatment, and healthcare delivery in unprecedented ways.

The Pioneer in Medicine Award is presented to individuals who have significantly contributed to the scientific advancement in the fields of medicine and image guided therapy through a multidisciplinary approach. Their groundbreaking contributions have made development of state-of-the-art technology and scientific discovery a reality.

The Pioneer in Healthcare Policy Award is presented to lawmakers who have demonstrated visionary and crossdisciplinary approaches to introducing laws that have contributed to the advancement of science, technology, education, and medicine. They have paved the way to better integration of such advancements in other fields, like medicine and neuroscience. These lawmakers champion better healthcare for all.

The Golden Axon Leadership Award is presented to individuals outside of the medical community who inspire with good will and an enthusiastic interest in science, technology and medicine. Named for the neuron cell fiber that carries outgoing messages to other target cells, the founding principle of the Axon Award is to recognize a highly regarded individual in the public sector who helps raise awareness and funding of WBMF and its mission in the community via fundraising event(s) and activities.

The WBMF Young Investigator’s Initiative is designed to recognize promising young scientists performing work in the brain sciences relevant to the World Brain Mapping Foundation. While this year’s awardees will not be receiving any financial incentives, this recognition will be a stepping stone for future recognition within and beyond the WBMF’s wide ranging collaborative partners.

The WBMF Student Service and Leadership Award is given to recognize excellence and commitment to dedicated fellows, interns, and students who have contributed to the advancement of medicine, specifically the neurosciences.

Late Robin Sidhu (1988 – 2015), a young ebullient science driven and information technology (IT) savvy person, died of an accident at an early age. His mission to accomplish in-depth understanding of human mind and health remained incomplete due to his early departure but his legacy will remain through supporting young innovative minds in science through this award.

Beacon of Courage and Dedication Award

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Nicole Hockley & Mark Barden

2023 Award Recipient
Our Story From Tragedy To Transformation Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Based in Newtown, Connecticut, our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.

Gabriella Wright

2022 Award Recipient
Co-founder of Never Alone Initiative-The Chopra Foundation. Gabriella is an actress, model and a humanitarian and activist.

Deepak Chopra

2022 Award Recipient
Founding Chairman of the Chopra Foundation and Co-Founder of the Never Alone Initiative. Physician, entrepreneur, philanthropist, advocate, teacher and humanitarian.

Poonacha Machaiah

2022 Award Recipient
Serial entrepreneur and CEO of the Chopra Foundation. Poonacha Machaiah has over 20 years of global experience as a successful serial entrepreneur and business leader in Fortune 100 companies. Poonacha is among the new breed of emerging social entrepreneurs who are using approaches from the commercial world and employing technology to tackle social and environmental problems.
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Humanitarian Award

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Alya Michelson

2024 GFC Humanitarian Award WBMF
Co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies a Los Angeles-based private operating foundation striving to create transformative opportunities that support vulnerable and underserved communities. Founded FirstGen, a storytelling platform that creates communal spaces for immigrant women to gather in celebration of their diverse experiences.

Deepak Chopra

2022 Award Recipient
Founding Chairman of the Chopra Foundation and Co-Founder of the Never Alone Initiative. Physician, entrepreneur, philanthropist, advocate, teacher and humanitarian.

Kateryna Potapova

2023 Award Recipient
Neurologist, Ph.D. student, and Assistant professor at Neurology Department, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. Head of International Patient Care Department, Adonis – medical group of companies, Kyiv, Ukraine. SBMT Fellow, Member of Global Phsycians and Surgeons.

Giuseppe Umana

Chair of Cerebrovascular advances Subcommittee 2023-2024 | 2023 Award Recipient
Neurosurgeon, Trauma and Gamma Knife Center, Cannizzaro Hospital, Catania, Italy, Member of GPS (Global Physicians and Scientists)
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Pioneer in Technology Development Award

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Cameron Piron, MS

2024 GFC Pioneer in Technology Award WBMF
Industry-recognized leader and innovator in image-guided surgery. Awarded University of Waterloo’s Alumni Achievement medal for leading Sentinelle Medical in researching and manufacturing leading-edge MRI technologies that allow physicians to diagnose breast cancer and other medical conditions accurately and faster.

Jim Pearson

WBMF Pioneer in Technology Development Award, 2023
NICO Corporation, Founder, President & CEO, more than 25 years experience in health care and medical device. Named Ernst and Young’s Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007.

Amin Kassam

Chair of Cerebrovascular advances Subcommittee 2023-2024 | WBMF Pioneer in Technology Development Award Recipient, 2022
Over the past two decades, Dr. Kassam has been the Chairman or led four Neurosurgery programs; pioneered and globally taught novel surgical procedures; founded or held leadership roles in several technology start-up companies; and, has held executive health care administration leadership roles needed to translate these innovations through Integrated Service Line delivery models. He is the Founder and CEO of Neeka Enterprises and recently served as the Chief Scientific Strategist, VP Neurosciences, and Chairman of Neurological Surgery for AdvocateAurora Health Care. 

Mark Torchia

2020 Award Recipient
Mark Torchia Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning), Executive Director – Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
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Pioneer in Medicine Award

Sujuan Ba, PhD

2024 GFC Pioneer in Medicine Award WBMF
President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR). One of the top 300 Women Leaders in Global Health.

Lawrence Steinman

2023 Award Recipient | MS, ALS and Glaucoma Subcommittee 2023-2024
Dr. Lawrence Steinman is a professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Pediatrics, and Genetics.  He also served as the Chair of the Stanford University Interdepartmental Program in Immunology from 2003-2011.

Paul M. Thompson

2023 Award Recipient
Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Radiology, Psychiatry, and Engineering Associate Director, USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute

Katalin Karikó

2022 Award Recipient
Prof. Dr. Katalin Karikó Senior Vice President RNA Protein Replacement Therapies (co-inventor of COVID19 mRNA Vaccine)

Pioneer in Healthcare Policy Award

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Senator Ben Allen

2024 GFC Pioneer in Healthcare Policy Award WBMF
California State Senator representing the 24th Senate District, covering the Westside, Hollywood, South Bay, and Santa Monica Mountains communities of the Los Angeles County. First elected in 2014 and serving his third term in State Senate.

Chris Murphy

2023 Award Recipient
Senator Murphy, has dedicated his career to public service as an advocate for Connecticut families. Senator of the United States.

Ro Khanna

2021 Award Recipient
American politician, lawyer, and academic serving as the U.S. Representative.

Robert N. Klein II

2020 Award Recipient
Robert Nicholas “Bob” Klein II, is a stem cell advocate
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Golden Axon leadership Award

Ira Soebroto-Bullo

2024 GFC Gold Axon Leadership Award WBMF
Chairwoman of WBMF Citizen Committee 2024.

Robert Hariri

2020 Award Recipient
Dr. Robert Hariri, The Chairman, Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and former Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics.

Keerthy Sunder

WBMF Golden Axon Leadership Award, 2023
CEO, Karma Doctors & Karma TMS, Inc Founder, The Sunder Foundation, Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California Riverside, CA, USA

Christopher Wheeler

WBMF Golden Axon Award, 2023 | Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Subcommittee SBMT 2023- 2024
President at StemVax, Chief Scientific Officer at T-Neuro Pharma, Inc. Professor and research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Young Investigator Award

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Dong Song

2018 Award Recipient
Dong Song is a research associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California

Wonhye Lee

2018 Award Recipient
Instructor in Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Director, Invertebrate Neuromodulation Lab (INL), Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Alexander Stahn

2017 Award Recipient
Assistant Professor, Medical Science in Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology, Department of Psychiatry

Ajeet Kaushik

2017 Award Recipient
Assistant Professor, Centre of Personalized Nanomedicine, Department of Immunology, Florida International University (FIU)
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Student Service and Leadership Award

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Jemma Yoo

Intern (2023-2024)
Intern (2023-2024)

Aysha Noor

MD | Research Fellow (2021-2024)
MD | Research Fellow (2021-2024)

Jothsna Bodhanapati

2023 Award Recipient, MD | Research Fellow (2021-2022)

Kateryna Potapova

2023 Award Recipient Clinical Research Associate | Research Fellow (2021-2023)
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Robin Sidhu Memorial Young Scientist Award

Ruogu Fang

2016 Award Recipient
Assistant Professor, Computing and Information Sciences, and Director of FIU’s Smart Medical Informatics Learning and Evaluation (SMILE) Group