MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 27, 2026--
In recognition of their impact on society through the successful production, patenting and commercialization of groundbreaking technologies, four esteemed scientists from Northwell Health’sFeinstein Institutes for Medical Research – Lior Brimberg, PhD; Jared M. Huston, MD; Stavros Zanos, MD, PhD; and Theodoros Zanos, PhD – have been named to the prestigious 2026 class of Senior Members by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
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This significant recognition highlights their work in bringing, or aspiring to bring, real positive change to the welfare of society and economic progress. The complete list of the 2026 NAI Senior Members, along with institutions, can be found here.
Started in 2018, the NAI Senior Member program highlights active faculty, scientists and administrators at NAI Member Institutions who have demonstrated remarkable innovation. This year’s class, the largest to date, comprises 230 emerging inventors from 82 NAI member institutions globally, collectively holding over 2,000 U.S. patents. In total, there are 945 Senior Members holding over 11,000 U.S. patents.
“This well-deserved and important recognition by the National Academy of Inventors reflects both the caliber of our investigators and the scientific environment at the Feinstein Institutes,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research, who was inducted as an NAI Fellow in December. “Drs. Brimberg, Huston and Theo, and Stavros Zanos exemplify rigorous, collaborative science, and we are pleased to see their work recognized as NAI Senior Members.”
Dr. Brimberg, associate professor in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Feinstein Institutes, is known for her work on novel diagnostics and therapeutics for autoimmune diseases with a special focus on the effect of maternal anti-brain antibodies on brain development and behavior specifically in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Dr. Huston, vice chair for education, surgery service line and professor of surgery and science education, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, looks to better understand how the central nervous system protects against traumatic injury, including novel non-invasive methods to reduce bleeding via activation of the Neural Tourniquet TM pathway.
Dr. Stavros Zanos, associate professor, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, studies the autonomic nervous system and how neuromodulation can treat conditions with cardiovascular, immune and metabolic dysfunction. Additionally. Dr. Zanos leads a team that is imaging and mapping how vagal fibers are organized inside the vagus nerve – a world first.
Dr. Theodoros Zanos, professor, division of health AI in the Institute of Health System Science & Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, looks to develop AI clinical tools that will enable early diagnosis, disease severity assessment and personalization and adaptability of the therapy.
The NAI Senior Member program, launched in 2018, acknowledges individuals whose patented technologies aspire to bring significant societal and economic benefits. The 2026 class of Senior Members will be honored during the Senior Member Induction Ceremony at NAI’s 15th Annual Conference, taking place June 1-4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
In addition to Dr. Tracey, Yousef Al-Abed, PhD, co-director of the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, was also named to the NAI’s 2024 class of fellows.
About the Feinstein Institutes
The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the home of the research institutes of Northwell Health, the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State. Encompassing 50+ research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation through its six institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic medicine, cancer, health system science, molecular medicine, and translational research. We are the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine – an innovative field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. The Feinstein Institutes publishes two open-access, international peer-reviewed journals Molecular Medicine and Bioelectronic Medicine. Through the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine, we offer an accelerated PhD program. For more information about how we produce knowledge to cure disease, visit http://feinstein.northwell.edu and follow us on LinkedIn.
(left to right) Feinstein Institutes’ Drs. Lior Brimberg, Stavros Zanos, Theodoros Zanos and Jared M. Huston have been named 2025 NAI Senior Members.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has spent his campaign for Ohio governor focused on November's general election and finally gets the chance Tuesday to put the long primary season behind him, as the Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur positions for an expensive run against Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director.
Contests on the ballots also will set the stage for Ohio's third competitive U.S. Senate race in the last four years, as well as a handful of U.S. House races that are expected to be closely fought in the fall.
Every statewide executive office is open this year due to term limits, but the governor's race has captured the bulk of the attention so far.
Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the state's political scene early last year as a mad shuffle was taking place. Then-Sen. JD Vance was ascending to the vice presidency and front-running gubernatorial candidate Jon Husted was being appointed to replace him in Washington.
That opened a window of opportunity at the top of Republicans' statewide ticket.
Though he is a newcomer in state politics, Ramaswamy's national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to Trump landed him the Ohio Republican Party's endorsement. With it, he cleared a prospective field that included the sitting state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor.
But Democrats also saw opportunity with the open governors seat, even as the state, a former bellwether, has tipped convincingly toward Republicans during the Trump era. The president’s lagging approval ratings on the economy and dissatisfaction over the war in Iran are contributing to a competitive contest.
Acton, a physician and public health expert, emerged as their choice. She became a household name across Ohio in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as she stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine during daily coronavirus broadcasts. Her comforting presence during the crisis made her a beloved figure with many Ohioans.
But the administration's aggressive actions — including shuttering businesses, closing schools and canceling an election — also earned Acton plenty of enemies and made her the occasional target of people upset about pandemic policies, with some armed protesters showing up outside her home.
Ramaswamy's campaign has sought to capitalize on the lingering anger over pandemic restrictions with attacks on Acton's role early in the crisis. Ramaswamy was advising the lieutenant governor at the time — Husted — on virus-related economic issues and he founded a company that profited off its role developing vaccines.
Acton is unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ramaswamy faces a long-shot challenge from Casey Putsch. The engineer and car designer is a YouTube provocateur who has trolled Ramaswamy incessantly over his Indian heritage and Hindu faith and painted him as an out-of-touch billionaire “tech bro.”
Husted is unopposed in the GOP primary for Senate, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term Vance won in 2022. Husted's likely opponent will be Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former three-term senator who lost a reelection bid against Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, a contest where spending hit $500 million. Brown faces a minor primary challenge from first-time candidate Ron Kincaid.
Early voting began April 7 under some new election laws, including citizenship checks and elimination of the four-day grace period for receiving mailed ballots. There have been no reports so far of any widespread problems for voters related to the changes.
In the wake of a new round of redistricting that slightly favored Republicans, the state also has numerous partisan congressional primaries.
The most heated GOP primary is in the Toledo area’s 9th District for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in Congress.
The five-way contest includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom Kaptur defeated by less than a percentage point in 2024, as well as an Air National Guard veteran, a healthcare industry worker, a sitting state representative and the former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Madison Sheahan.
In Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman's Cincinnati-area district, which his party considers a “must-hold,” the three-way Republican primary includes Eric Conroy, a CIA and Air Force veteran who has been endorsed by Trump, Vance and Moreno.
Landsman also faces a primary challenge from Damon Lynch IV, the grandson of a prominent civil rights leader. Lynch has criticized Landsman for his initial vote against a war powers resolution on the war in Iran, which Landsman later followed up with a favorable vote.
In the Akron area's 13th District, five Republicans including business owner Neil Patel, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, are vying for the opportunity to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes.
As a Trump-backed national effort to remake congressional maps in Republicans' favor was underway, Ohio Democrats took a could-have-been-worse approach and passed the map they were given unanimously.
Now party candidates are crowding congressional primaries across the state for the chance to take on sitting Republican representatives, who hold 10 of Ohio's 15 seats.
The newly redrawn 7th District in the Cleveland area has attracted eight Democrats hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a former senior Trump adviser, in November. Among them is former Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.
In northeast Ohio's 14th District, former state Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill is among three Democrats seeking to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce. Joyce also has two primary challengers.
Meanwhile six Democrats are on the ballot in the Dayton-area 10th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner. There are seven in GOP U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli's 6th District along the Ohio River and five in the 5th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Latta.
Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown speaks during a campaign event ahead of primary elections at the Paladin Brewery in Austintown, Ohio, Thursday, April, 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
FILE - Amy Acton, Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, gestures as she speaks with a reporter in Columbus, Ohio April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to supporters before the Warren County Republicans Lincoln Day Dinner at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
