AES Honors 2025 Award Recipients

At the 2025 Annual Meeting, the American Epilepsy Society will honor a distinguished group of clinicians, researchers, and public-health leaders with its annual awards, recognizing achievements spanning advocacy, research, clinical care, and service. 

Rosemarie Kobau, MPH, MAPP – Extraordinary Contributions to the Field of Epilepsy
Dr. Kobau, team lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epilepsy Program, will receive AES’s “Extraordinary Contributions” award, reserved for individuals whose multi-domain impact–-in science, education, advocacy and leadership-–substantially advances epilepsy care. Her decades-long public-health work, including leading the Managing Epilepsy Well (MEW) Network and pioneering national studies of epilepsy prevalence, self-management, stigma and quality of life, has helped shape population-level awareness and care strategies in the United States.

Elaine Wyllie, MD, FAES – 2025 Lombroso Lecturer Award
Recognized as an outstanding investigator in epilepsy research, Dr. Wyllie brings decades of leadership in pediatric epilepsy care and surgery. During a long career at the Cleveland Clinic, she helped establish dedicated pediatric epilepsy services, broadened surgical candidacy criteria, and served as senior editor of the seminal text Wyllie’s Treatment of Epilepsy. Her research and mentorship have influenced epilepsy centers globally. 

Carrie McDonald, PhD, ABPP-CN, FAES – 2025 Fritz E. Dreifuss Award
Dr. McDonald will receive the Dreifuss Award, which honors excellence in clinical epilepsy research and care — awarded to those with a record of significant clinical-research contributions and impact on patient management. 

Lawrence J. Hirsch, MD, FAES – 2025 Clinical Science Research Award
Dr. Hirsch earns AES’s Clinical Science Research Award in recognition of his ongoing contributions to epilepsy research, reflecting sustained excellence and important advances in understanding or managing epilepsy from a clinical science perspective. 

Sucheta Joshi, MD, MS, FCNS, FAES – 2025 J. Kiffin Penry Award for Excellence in Epilepsy Care
Dr. Joshi will be honored for outstanding clinical care, education and mentorship that have improved quality of life for people with epilepsy, consistent with the Penry Award’s mission of celebrating outstanding care and advocacy. 

Michael Sperling, MD, FAES – 2025 Founders Award
The Founders Award recognizes a lifetime of sustained contributions to epilepsy—both clinical and scientific. Dr. Sperling’s selection underscores his enduring influence and leadership in the field. Note that Dr. Sperling is a member of Practical Neurology's Editorial Advisory Board. 

Farah D. Lubin, PhD, FAES – 2025 Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Lubin will receive AES’s Distinguished Service Award, honoring long-term voluntary service that has advanced AES’s mission and strengthened the broader epilepsy community. 

Together, these awards highlight the breadth of contributions — from population-level public health work to groundbreaking clinical research and lifelong service — that continue to drive progress in epilepsy care, treatment, and advocacy.