The Vanguard Award
The Vanguard Award
The UMDF Vanguard Award is presented to a scientist or physician in honor of his or her lifetime contributions to the field of mitochondrial medicine or research. The recipient is recognized for leadership and commitment towards a cure for mitochondrial diseases, whether through research or medical treatment, and whose inspiration has resulted in bringing new scientific or medical experts into the field.
This year, for his incredible dedication to the fields of mitochondrial medicine and science, the UMDF and the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board are honored to present the 2026 Vanguard Award to Dr. Peter Stacpoole.
Dr. Bruce Cohen:
When I first learned of mitochondrial disease in 1983, after seeing a child with a massively elevated blood lactic acid level, I suspected my interest could be life-long. That was 44 years ago. My teachers handed me a paper, written by this year’s vanguard recipient, and told me to study that paper. He has worked for over 6 decades in this field, is still writing papers, and has dedicated his career to the treatment of mitochondrial disease.
Dr. Richard Haas:
I moved from the UK to Denver in 1979 committed to a career in mitochondrial medicine triggered in part by caring for a small boy with Leigh syndrome. Even before my move, I became aware of our well deserved Vanguard honoree reading his seminal paper in 1978 exploring metabolic effects in diabetes and hyperlipidemia. He truly is a Vanguard and he rapidly moved on with studying his candidate molecule as a treatment for mitochondrial disease. Soon after my arrival in San Diego I joined in this this treatment exploration with both laboratory research and an open label trial in a number of mitochondrial disease patients using our honoree’s novel treatment. He moved on to focus on Leigh syndrome designing outcome measures and doing a properly designed clinical trial of dichloroacetate and teaching many of us how important well-constructed trials are to moving towards a cure. We have learned a great deal from this gentleman about humanity and tenacity.
Previous Vanguard Awardees
Lee Jun-Wong, PhD 2025
Russell Saneto, DO 2024
Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD 2023
Bruce Cohen, MD 2019
Larry Grossman, PhD 2017
Richard Haas, MBChir, MD 2016
Douglas Wallace, PhD 2015
Chuck Hoppel, MD 2014
Salvatore DiMauro, MD 2013