Together with Professore Susanne Wegener from the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), EPFL researchers Professor Alexander and Professor Mackenzie Mathis are also the recipients of the 2024 Robert Bing Prize, which honours outstanding researchers in the field of neurology. The award, presented by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), honours particularly significant advances in the diagnosis, treatment and cure of neurological diseases and is endowed with 30,000 Swiss francs each.
Prof. Dr. med. Susanne Wegener is being honoured for her pioneering research into the pathophysiology and treatment of strokes. In her translational work, she combines findings from basic neuroscientific research with clinical stroke care, which has led to significant advances in the treatment of stroke patients. Professore Susanne Wegener is an international expert and pioneer in this field and has already received several awards, including the SAMS Stern-Gattiker Prize and the Georg Friedrich Götz Prize.
In her multidisciplinary research approach, she and her team are focussing on several key topics. These include the role of collateral vessels in the blood supply during a stroke and the function of leukocytes in vascular occlusion. Using state-of-the-art imaging techniques and machine learning, she analyses factors that predict the success of therapies. Professore Susanne Wegener devotes particular attention to the cardiovascular health of women, who are often underrepresented in stroke research. One of her most important discoveries concerns the mechanisms that explain different treatment outcomes in reperfusion therapies following arterial occlusion - a breakthrough that could have a significant impact on personalised medicine in stroke therapy.
The award ceremony will take place on 14 November 2024 in Bern. Further information, the SAMS press release and a list of previous prize winners can be found on the SAMS website.