Announcement

PHILADELPHIA — Two neurologists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have received high honors from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The awards will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia April 26 through May 3 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Parkinson's disease expert Alice Chen-Plotkin, MD, MSc, assistant professor of Neurology, will receive the Jon Stolk Award in Movement Disorders for Young Investigators in recognition for her efforts to establish reliable biomarkers for cognitive and other changes in Parkinson's disease and related neurodegenerative conditions.

Roy Hamilton, MD, MS, assistant professor of Neurology, will receive the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology for his work on the mechanisms of neuroplacticity. His research has demonstrated the compensatory behavioral response of the brain following stroke, and he is now looking at how interventions such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used as a biomarker or neurorehabilitative treatments after stroke and other forms of brain injury.

"We are delighted and proud to have two young faculty members receive these prominent awards from the Academy for their research," said Frances Jensen, MD, chair and professor of Neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine. "Both of these clinician-scientists are great examples of collaborative researchers involved in multidisciplinary and translational efforts. Their frontier work, from a cellular and molecular level to real-world applications, has promising clinical potential."

Dr. Hamilton will accept his award as part of Session S28 Aging, Dementia, Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology on Wednesday, April 30, at 2 p.m. Dr. Chen-Plotkin will receive her award on Thursday, May 1, at 1 p.m. during Session S44: Movement Disorders: Huntington’s Disease, Ataxia, and Wilson’s Disease. For more information on the awards, please visit the AAN Press Room online.

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.

The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.

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