Interventional Neurologist Receives Two Prestigious Awards for Global Stroke Work
Dileep Yavagal, M.D., chief of interventional neurology and professor of clinical neurology and neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, received two awards for his work to expand access to mechanical thrombectomy in the United States, within India and around the world.
Dr. Yavagal was awarded an honorary membership in the Indian Academy of Neurology at its annual meeting in Visakhapatnam, India, in October. The following month, he received the Neurointerventional Pioneering Award during the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology (SVIN) annual meeting in San Diego.
“Getting these awards is very humbling,” Dr. Yavagal said. “The nice thing is they both recognize the same work.”
Mechanical Thrombectomy for Stroke
Dr. Yavagal refers to Mission Thrombectomy, an initiative he pioneered to help people experiencing a stroke caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO) access. Emergency thrombectomy is a minimally invasive catheter surgery that has dramatically improved stroke outcomes. Not everyone is a candidate, but many people with these ischemic strokes arriving within 24 hours of symptoms benefit from removal of the clot causing the stroke, especially those with an LVO.
Even though an estimated 80 to 85 percent of strokes are ischemic, access to mechanical thrombectomy varies widely by region and country. Australia leads the world. Forty-three percent of Australians have access to this life-saving procedure. In the United States, the percentage drops to 32%, and in India, a dismal 1.4%. Overall, mechanical thrombectomy is an option for fewer than 3% of the world’s population, according to the MT-GLASS study led by Dr. Yavagal.
Giving Back to India
The Indian Academy of Neurology recognition “is really such an amazing honor because I left India in 1997 after completing medical school and an internal medicine residency. It was not clear that I would contribute anything substantial to my motherland once I left,” Dr. Yavagal said. “But because of my training in the U.S. and working with former Miller School professor and chair of neurology, Dr. Ralph Sacco, I could give back directly to India.”
Dr. Yavagal also credits the collaborative environment at the Miller School and the shared acknowledgment that public health initiatives can increase access to crucial medical care worldwide, including in low- and middle-income countries. Mission Thrombectomy has now expanded to more than 90 countries.
“I wasn’t planning on this. But the fact that it actually worked out, and to the extent that the Indian Academy recognized that, was just an incredible feeling,” Dr. Yavagal said. “More patients get treated in India with stroke thrombectomy since this campaign started, significantly more year after year.”
The U.S.-based SVIN gives the Neurointerventional Pioneering Award annually. In 2024, they recognized Dr. Yavagal and Mission Thrombectomy as a groundbreaking global initiative. In a letter announcing the award, SVIN president Thanh Nguyen, M.D., cited Dr. Yavagal’s leadership as founder and chair emeritus of Mission Thrombectomy, SVIN co-founder and SVIN past president. She added that Dr. Yavagal has positively impacted SVIN’s advocacy, collaborations, communications and education.
Tags: Dr. Dileep Yavagal, mechanical thrombectomy, neurology, neurosurgery, stroke, stroke outcomes, thrombectomy