The Wayne Hening Young Investigator Awards
Named to honor the memory of a pioneer in RLS research and established in 2010, the Wayne Hening Young Investigator Awards are presented each year at a meeting of the IRLSSG. The up-to five $1,000 awards recognize research efforts by new investigators in an attempt to promote interest in the study of RLS.
Eligibility for the Award
Young investigators new to the RLS/PLMS field who are no more than 10 years past receiving their PhD or MD
Senior investigators new to the RLS/PLMS field (first publication of a first author abstract or journal article in the RLS/PLMS field is within the last 3 years)
How to Apply
Send letter of application to secretary@irlssg.org
Past Winners
2024
Fulya Akcimen (USA) – “Genomic analysis identifies risk factors in restless legs syndrome”
Wenjun Zhu (China) – “Clinical features, polysomnography, and genetics association study of restless legs syndrome in clinic based Chinese patients: A multicenter observational study”
2023
Beatriz da Silva Franco (Brazil) – “Hypothalamic inflammation analysis in an animal model of iron deficiency for RLS”
Angelica Montini (Italy) – “The Metagenomic analysis in RLS”
Abubaker Ibrahim (Austria) – “Effects of acute exposure to altitude on RLS”
Katie Cederberg (USA) – “Proteomic Profiling in Periodic Limb Movements and Restless Legs Syndrome”
Maria Paola Mogavero (Italy) – “A transcriptome analysis of mRNAs in patients with restless legs syndrome”
2022
Philip Harrer (Germany) – “Methylglyoxal – a central metabolic factor in restless legs syndrome?”
Tae-Joon Kim (Korea) – “Quantitative susceptibility mapping as an indicator for the efficacy of intravenous iron therapy in restless legs syndrome”
Yumeng Huang (China) – “Association of BST1 polymorphism with idiopathic restless legs syndrome in Chinese population”
Chia-Luen Leu (Germany) – “A mouse model of RLS with aberrant cortical rhythms”
Maria Paola Mogavero (Italy) – “Structural changes of the subcortical gray structures in restless legs syndrome”
2021
Davide Sparasci (Switzerland) – “Restless Legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movements in 86 patients with Multiple Sclerosis”
Jonathan Adrian Yeung Laiwah (Canada) – “Characteristics of Augmented RLS Patients on Dopamine Agonists at a Tertiary Referral Center”
Katie Cederberg (USA) – “Efficacy of a physical activity intervention for managing restless legs syndrome in multiple sclerosis: A pilot randomized controlled trial”
Melanie Bergmann (Austria) – “Signs of sympathetic and endothelial cell activation in the skin of patients with restless legs syndrome”
Seongmin Oh (Korea) – “The seasonal pattern of restless legs syndrome in a sample from the Korean health insurance review and assessment service national database”
2020
Ana Antic Nikolic (Germany) – “RLS-associated risk variant affects MEIS1 expression during neural development”
Fulya Akcimen (USA) – “A genetic and transcriptome-wide study for restless legs syndrome”
Mirjam Schipper (Netherlands) – “Sleep-related leg movements in obstructive sleep apnea: Definitions, determinants, and clinical consequences”
Michelle Kanney (USA) – “Rethinking bedtime resistance in children with autism: Is restless legs syndrome to blame?”
Mohanad AlGaeed (USA) – “Prevalence and impact of restless legs in patients with myasthenia gravis”
2019
Ambra Stefani (Austria) – “New MRI findings in RLS”
Camila Hirotsu (Switzerland) – “Periodic limb movement during sleep and the incidence of cardiometabolic outcomes: The hypnolaus study”
Celia Garcia-Malo (Spain) – “Evaluation of brain iron deposits in restless legs syndrome: The promising role of transcranial sonography”
Sayonara B Fagundes (Brazil) – “Are there correlation among: RLS, iron, and IL6 in runners?”
Vivian Wanner (Chile) – “Transcreal sonography as a novel neuroimaging tool to determine brain iron deficiency in restless legs syndrome: Results in a Chilean sample”
2018
Kwang Su Cha (Korea) – “Frontal dysfunction in patients with restless legs syndrome performing a visual oddball task: An event-related potential source imaging study”
Stefania Mondello (Italy) – “Identification of novel candidate biomarkers for RLS by proteomic analysis”
Tae-Joon Kim (Korea) – “Intracerebral sources of periodic leg movement during sleep”
2017
Lenise Jihe Kim (Brazil) – “Prevalence and associated factors of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement in EPISONO cohort”
Gen Li (China) – “Association of BTBD9 and MAP2K5/SKOR1 with restless legs syndrome in Chinese population”
Diego Alvarez-Estevez (Netherlands) – “Validation of an automatic scoring algorithm for the analysis of periodic limb movements according to the WASM2016 guidelines”
Aaro V. Salminen (Germany) – “Circadian locomotor activity in MEIS1 knock-out mice”
Sam Kerr (South Africa) – “Plantar reflex excitability fluctuations in restless legs syndrome patients”
2016
Aarthi Ram (USA) – “Relationship of muscarinic antagonists with sleep related movement disorders: REM atonia and periodic limb movements”
Ambra Stefani (Austria) – “Influence of altitude on periodic leg movements during sleep in individuals with restless legs syndrome and healthy controls: A pilot study”
Elias G. Karroum (USA) – “Genetic characterization of the painful restless legs phenotype”
Rodolfo Soca (USA) – “Prevalence of restless legs syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease and its association with iron deficiency. Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)”
2015
Zoe Heis (USA) – “Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of stroke in females with restless legs syndrome”
Thomas Mitterling (Austria) – “Natural course of restless legs syndrome (RLS)/Willis-Ekbom Disease (WED) long-term observation of a large clinical cohort”
Patrick Skeba (USA) – “Measuring PLMS of RLS: Mean and standard deviation of log IMI, a stable and informative assessment of the periodicity features of PLMS in RLS”
Anupama Gupta (India) – “Restless legs syndrome (/Willis-Ekbom Disease) among patients with resistent hypertension (RH) versus stroke patients – a prospective comparative study”
2014
Yong Seo Koo (Korea) – “Efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation in patients with druge-naive restless legs syndrome”
Thomas Dye (USA) – “Long term treatment outcomes of iron supplementation in pediatric restless leg syndrome and PLMD”
Suzie Bertisch (USA) – “Cardiovagal baroreflex gain is reduced in patients with RLS”
2013
Samantha Kerr (South Africa) – “Reflex testing reveals circadian variation of spinal excitability in restless legs syndrome patients”
Patrizia Congiu (Italy) – “Neurophysiological evaluation of spinal excitability in patients affected by primitive restless legs syndrome”
Marta Moraleda-Cibrian (USA) – “Restless leg syndrome in young children with orofacial cleft”
Irina Zavalko (Russia) – “Polysomnographic evaluation of augmentation in patients with restless legs syndrome”
Andras Szentkiralyi (Germany) – “Multimobidity and the risk of restless leg syndrome in two prospective cohort studies”
Amanda Freeman (USA) – “PTPRD expression regulates sleep consolidation in drosophila”
Aaro Salminen (Germany) – “Periodic leg movements in spinal cord injury: Evaluation of arousals and treatment effect”
2012
Mark Boulos (Canda) – “Nocturnal limb movements are correlated with cerebral white matter hyperintensities and fronto-executive deficits”
Bryndis Benediktsdottiri (Iceland) – “Prevalence of RLS among patients with OSA before and after CPAP treatment compared to the general population”
A. Q. Rana (Canada) – “Exacerbation of pain by RLS and PD: A case control study”
Victoria Mery (Canada) – “High false-positive rate of questionnaire-based RLS diagnosis in MS”
Maryann Deak (USA) – “Correlates of respiratory events with and without associated leg movements in obstructive sleep apnea”