Faculty
Jeffrey M. Gelfand, MD, has been awarded the 2026 Cheryl Jay Master Clinician Award for the Senior Clinical Faculty category.
Corey Harwell, PhD, has been awarded the 2026 McKnight Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award.
Sarah Kaufman, MD, PhD, has been selected for the 2026 UCSF School of Medicine Physician-Scientist Scholars Program (PSSP). The program provides funding to outstanding early-career physician-scientists as they launch independent research careers.
Nicole Rosendale, MD, has been awarded the 2026 Cheryl Jay Master Clinician Award for the Junior Clinical Faculty category.
Mark Terrelonge, MD, MPH, has won the 2026 Robert B. Layzer Resident Teaching (“Golden Toe”) Award, voted on by the graduating class of Neurology residents.
Mary Zuniga, MD, has been named a 2026 John A. Watson Faculty Scholar by the UCSF School of Medicine.
Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, MSc, MAS, MBA, MLS, has been awarded the 2026 Detlev Ganten Excellence Award in Basic Research in Hypertension on behalf of the World Hypertension League.
Charles Windon, MD, has been named a recipient of a 2026 American Neurological Association IDEAS Early Career Member Award.
Ryan Corces, PhD, has been named a 2026 winner of the Pershing Square Foundation’s MIND Prize. This award recognizes next-frontier thinkers who are uncovering a deeper understanding of the brain and cognition.
Dena Dubal, MD, PhD, was honored with the 2026 Exceptional Faculty Mentor Award from the UCSF Medical Scientist Training Program for inspiring, mentoring, and educating the next generation of physician-scientists.
John Pluvinage, MD, PhD, received a 2026 Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation, which recognizes physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
Daniele Canzio, PhD, has been named the 2026 recipient of UCSF’s Bowes Biomedical Investigator Award, which recognizes and supports scientists who take innovative approaches and demonstrate strong potential to advance biomedicine.
Claire Clelland, MD, PhD, was selected as the 2025 WashU Medicine Bold Pioneer Award winner. This award recognizes early career investigators who have demonstrated bold, pioneering research that is high-risk by virtue of being fundamentally different from standard approaches.
Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, MSc, MAS, MBA, MLS, has won the 2026 Edgar J. Kenton III Award given by the American Heart Association. The award recognizes lifetime contributions to investigation, management, mentorship, and community service in the field of stroke disparities or related disciplines.
Maulik Shah, MD, MHS, has won the 2026 A.B. Baker Teacher Recognition Award given by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The award will be presented at the AAN meeting in Chicago in April 2026.
Mark Terrelonge, MD, MPH, received the 2025 Academy of Medical Educators Service Award for his outstanding contributions to the Teaching Observation Program.
Dena Dubal, MD, PhD, received a Chancellor Award for the Advancement of Women for her groundbreaking research on women’s longevity and brain aging and mentorship of future leaders in neuroscience. The 2025 Chancellor Principles of Community Awards recognize UCSF members who exemplify the university’s PRIDE Values through their commitment to equity and belonging.
Bridget Ostrem, MD, PhD, won the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award for her work in maternal-fetal and pediatric neurology. The award will fund both drug discovery and early-phase clinical trials of preterm infants with white matter injury.
Daniele Canzio, PhD, has been named a finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in Life Sciences. He is recognized for revealing how 3D genome folding shapes neuronal identity, offering new insights into brain wiring and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Sharon Chiang, MD, PhD, has been selected as the recipient of the ANA-Persyst Professional Development Award. This award is provided to an early career academic neurologist or neuroscientist who is an ANA member specializing in the field of epilepsy.
Jill Hollenbach, PhD, MPH, received the American Society for Histocompatibility Bernard Amos Distinguished Scientist Award.
Sam Pleasure, MD, PhD, will receive the J. Elliott Royer Award for Excellence in Academic Neurology at the Aird Professorship on November 5, 2025.
Aimee Kao, MD, PhD, was awarded the 2025 ANA Award for Excellence in Novel Scientific Contributions.
Trainees
Andy Wang, MD, a third-year Neurology resident, received the UCSF Emergency Medicine Residency Program’s Medical Consultant of the Year Award, voted on by Emergency Medicine residents.
Erin Yaegle, MD, Neurology residency graduate and incoming epilepsy fellow, received the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award for Cherished Housestaff (T.E.A.C.H.), an honor bestowed by the UCSF School of Medicine Class of 2026.
Staff
The following staff in Neurology have won 2025-2026 STAR Achievement Awards, which recognize sustained, exceptional performance and/or significant contributions from an employee(s) over an extended period.
Rose George
Carolina Gonzalez-Lopez
Thai Hien Ho
Kelly Hitchner
Mom Keo
Elizabeth Kong
Anthony Kwong
Christina Liu
Collin Molberg
Eleanor O’Brien
Virginia Schuler
Iris Solorzano
Locus Yuen