Neurologist Raul Nogueira and psychologist Dorian Lamis are this year’s recipients of the Albert E. Levy Award for Excellence in Scientific Research, established to recognize the contributions of Emory faculty members to the advancement of scientific knowledge.
The award was created by Edith Levy Elsas, a civic and academic activist, while she was a member of the Emory University Board of Visitors in memory of her father, Albert E. Levy. The award is overseen by the University Research Committee (URC).
Each year the URC accepts nominations from the faculty at large in recognition of two faculty members, one junior and one senior, considered by the nominating faculty to be outstanding in their respective fields of research.
Each awardee receives an honorarium in research funds: $1,000 for the Junior Faculty Award recipient and $2,000 for the Senior Faculty Award recipient. In addition to the honorariums, each awardee receives a trophy.
Originally overseen by Emory University's Sigma Xi, a scientific research honor society that encourages research communication across multiple scientific disciplines, the Levy Award program stopped for a period when the Emory Chapter of the Sigma Xi became inactive. In the year 2000, at the request of the benefactor, the Albert E. Levy Award was reinstated to be administered by the University Research Committee.
2021 award winners
Junior Award: Dorian Lamis
Dorian Lamis, PhD, ABPP, is a board certified licensed clinical psychologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. He conducts research as well as provides direct clinical and administrative services at the Grady Memorial Hospital Behavioral Health Outpatient Clinic with patients who are diagnosed with serious mental illness and/or are at-risk for suicide.
Lamis is a highly prolific scholar who is internationally recognized in his field of clinical psychology and suicide prevention. Since joining Emory, he has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and established himself as an independent leader in the field. He is considered a rising star by his peers and has been invited to speak at many international conferences. He has also won many awards and secured substantial external funding. Lamis’s innovative research provides key insights into suicidal behavior and identification of specific genetic and epigenetic factors.
Senior Award: Raul Nogueira
Raul Nogueira, MD, is a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and radiology in the Department of Neurology of Emory University School of Medicine and a world-renowned stroke and interventional neurologist who practices at Grady Memorial Hospital. His research has been tremendously impactful, and he has been a leader in developing a new paradigm for the treatment of strokes.
Nogueira has been in the leadership group organizing multi-site clinical trials on applying a technique called mechanical thrombectomy, which removes blood clots from the blocked blood vessels immediately after a stroke. It has become a major new procedure for treatment of severe stroke patients within the first 6-24 hours that greatly increases the chances of survival.
One high profile study led by Nogueira, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018, has already resulted in more than 1,500 citations. The study resulted in a total change to the recommended procedures for the treatment of stroke. The study has been hugely impactful and has been recognized by many publications and organizations; it has been touted as the most influential research in the neuroendovascular field in the past 10 years and the clinical trial was named by both the American Heart Association and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation as one of the top research advances of 2018.
Nogueira has also been recognized with numerous named lectureship awards, including the Juan Taveras Lectureship Award from Harvard, the first neurologist to be recognized for this award.