The Department of Neurological Surgery is honored to announce the establishment of the Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah Award for Outstanding Performance in the Field of Neurological Surgery. This distinguished accolade recognizes an exceptional medical student for their unwavering dedication and significant achievement in the field of neurosurgery.

Named in honor of Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah, esteemed neurosurgeon and faculty member at the University of Chicago, this award commemorates his tireless commitment to providing exemplary patient care, advancing medical science and demonstrating unwavering support for education. This award celebrates medical students who embody the qualities that have defined Dr. Hekmat's remarkable career and recognizes their early contributions to the field. Moreover, this award will contribute to Dr. Hekmat's legacy of inspiring future generations of neurosurgeons.

We are delighted to announce Je Yeong (Jae) Sone, MD, as the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah Award. Jae has demonstrated exceptional dedication to patient care at the same time as maintaining an exemplary academic record. Jae’s interest in neurosurgery began while he was still in high school when he became affiliated with Dr. Awad’s neurovascular lab. He maintained this link when he went to NYU for his undergraduate studies and subsequently returned to the Pritzker School of Medicine in 2019. Since starting at U Chicago, Jae has split his time between his medical course work and scientific pursuits in the Awad lab. Most notably, Jae has contributed to several scientific articles including two high quality first-author publications. We are all extremely proud of Jae’s accomplishments and look forward to his starting as a neurosurgical PGY1 at UChicago Medicine this July.