"He deserves to win for his leadership, his involvement, and his versatility."

Clara Deschamps, Sciences de la Motricité, University of Liège, Belgium

"Very good scientist and researcher, involved in this subject of research for now more than 4 years and full of energy in lots of others things like sport, friendship...!"

A Marie Vialletelle, HUG, University of Geneva, Switzerland

"Leandro is a truly dedicated PhD student, he is doing a really great job for his thesis which helps to deepen our knowledge in coma and concsious recovery. I had a chance to exchange with him for a paper concerning the hedonist relation of wine and brain stimuli. It was a blast."

Abraham Monnier, Winemaking and Viticulture, Mas de Libian, France

"In addition to doing an extraordinary job with our patients, it's a rich collaboration, he's always available to answer our questions and share his knowledge!"

Myrte Reniers, Neurology, CHN William Lennox, Belgium

"He is conscientious, respectful, efficient, applied and a sympathetic colleague."

Bruno Pierson, Neurology Adult, CHN William Lennox, Belgium

"He is a very good scientist and researcher!"

Brigitte Genin, IT, Centre Hospitalier Neurologique William Lennox, Belgium

"He has personal implications in every research and strong willingness to discover new data and opportunity in the world of Neuroscience."

Laura Bergé, Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland

"It is so interesting for our patients to progress in this way."

Brigitte Morre, Neurologie adulte, CHNWLennox, Belgium

"He is really competent on his job, and in addition to all his works and projects with university, he still has time to do a lot of sports activities at an expert level and that is something admirable as a PhD student. He deserves this nomination."

Stephane Carapelle, University of Liège, Belgium

"Always enthusiastic, he tries to help his team mates the best he can and is always motivated to organize or to participate to team activities."

Nicolas Lejeune, Coma Science Group, ULiège, Belgium

"He is a skillful and enthusiastic researcher. Besides an outstanding researcher, Leandro is an excellent colleague, friend and very professional. He is extremely smart (most of the times :p ) and very social.

He has been very helpful to me as he served as translator/interpreter between me and the city administration. It's worth mentioning that one of the many languages he speaks is Greek. Last but not least, his passion for biking and sports has been transferred to many people in the lab and has motivated them to start a healthier life style."

Georgios Antonopoulous, AML Group, FZ-Juelich, Germany

"Beside being a clinician, Leandro is really involved in the research field here at the Coma Science Group. He invests so much of his time for his patients and for science. He's always available to help others, in so many fields, either scientific, sportive, and many more. I'm very glad to study with him, he's such an inspiration for us, and an encouragement for us to proceed, to make progress. In addition to being a key element to the lab, Leandro is a really awesome (and handsome!) human being!"

Maxime Vandenberghe, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"Dr. Leandro Sanz's outstanding scientific work in the study of the vegetative state (VS), Minimally Conscious State and other disorders of consciousness (DOC) grants him nomination for this Award. In the last years he has published a number of studies in this area including top journals such as Annals of Neurology, frontiers in Neurology, etc. He is also actively engaged in numerous scientific societies and working groups interested in consciousness such as the Disorder of Consciousness Special Interest Group of the International Brain Injury Association or the Coma and Disorder of Consciousness Group of the European Academy of Neurology. Our team has been working with Leandro and the Coma Science Group these last few years, always with excellent results. Leandro has always been willing to help us in all our common projects showing a great capacity for work and a great ability to solve any problem that may arise. In summary, in my opinion Leandro's work brings together excellent conditions to be awarded with this prize. I think this award could serve as an example for future investigators and also as an incentive for Leandro’s work in search of the neurobiological basis of human consciousness."

Enrique Now Sebastian, Neuro Rehab Human Brain (NEURORHB), Hospitales Vithas, Spain

"He should win because he's a very good scientist and researcher."

Camille Janssens, CHNWL, Belgium

"Leandro is probably one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever met and his extraordinary motivation includes all aspects of his life: work and research for sure but sports and social life as well - a true inspiration."

Géraldine Martens, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"He is doing an amazing job!"

Eloise Colin, PT Dep, William Lennox, Belgium

"He is doing an amazing job with patients."

Eline Pirard, Neurology, William Lennox, Belgium

"He is the best."

Nadjinangar Aimadji, William Lennox Ottignies, Belgium

"He has competency, efficiency and enthusiasm."

Rita Formisano, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy

"Leandro is a very good scientist and researcher who always has innovative ideas to improve experimental protocols."

Sebastien Van Goethem, Department of Pharmacy, CHNWL, Belgium

"A wonderful researcher with a lot of intellectual insights. We always look upon him for his inputs for any experiment to be designed, analyses, and scientific reports."

Pradeep Kumar G, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"A highly motivated researcher concerned with advancing knowledge about awake patients. He also knows how to make himself accessible and popularize his research."

Olivier d'Arripe, Neuropsychology, CHNWL, Belgium

"The Coma Science Group enlightens us with its expertise and allows each caregiver to evolve in a still little-known field, guaranteeing to be at the forefront of knowledge and therapeutic techniques, all for the benefit of patients and the improvement of life quality. Leandro is a bright, dynamic and motivated researcher."

David Dikenstein, CHNW Lennox, Belgium

"Leandro has proven to be a motivated and determined researcher since his beginning at the Geneva University Hospital. Always keen on helping others and being included in new projects, he has published a solid amount of well written articles. He is not only very talented but fun to work with and always in a good mood. It’s always a real pleasure to collaborate with him!"

Julie Sternberg, Department of Pediatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland

"He advances research to better care for our CHNWL patients."

Geoffroy Dellicour, CHNWL Physiotherapy, CHN William Lennox, Belgium

"Leandro is a good researcher, very applied. In addition, he is a friendly person."

Joëlle Dreessen, Neurology, CHNWL, Belgium

"I worked with Leandro on several projects in the field of consciousness.  Leandro is a hard-working person who shows a great autonomy in the lab. He shows ability to lead a rigourous research on his own and acquire, analyze and interpret behavioural, neuroimaging and neurophysiological data. He is smart, passionate and has excellent inter-personal skills."

Helena Cassol, Service de Médecine de L'Appareil Locomoteur, University Hospital of Liège, Belgium

"He is simply, THE best."

Ludovico Bechis, University of Liege, Belgium

"Leandro is a medical doctor and neuroscientist working in the field of research on consciousness. He is a nice person and always helps colleagues and students."

Sneha Ray, Department of Biomedical Science - Neuroscience, University of Mons, Belgium

"Leandro Sanz, MD joined the Coma Science Group to further his medical research training. He undertook a challenging clinical study of an experimental drug to promote the recovery of severely brain injured patients in a coma in order for them to regain consciousnes and restore functioning, all while correlating observed brain improvements with cutting edge neuro-imaging techniques.  This also required maintaining patient care during COVID-19 restrictions and coordinating many different research teams, all leading to life-altering patient benefit.  An exemplary demonstration of early career clinical research success."

Neal Farber, Clinical, NeuroHealing, United States

"Always extremely kind. He's a real real role model who magically excels at everything he does, in and out the lab."

Naji Alnagger, Coma Science Group, University of Liege, Belgium

"He is inspiring, hard-working and brings joy to the lab."

Mélanie Louras, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, Univerisity of Liège, Belgium

"It's my great pleasure to nominate Dr. Leandro Sanz. He is a great honest scientist and clinician and is always ready to help others. I am very impressed by the way he manages both research and clinical work in his PhD. In his PhD, he contributed a lot to the Consciousness research and one of his current research works is partially accepted in Nature Communication. I have many research collaborations with him and have learned a lot on research, clinical knowledge and even non professional stuff. He not only collaborates and helps lab members, he also collaborates/helps other labs and other university students/researchers. I am so lucky and proud to have such a wonderful colleague."

Rajanikant Panda, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liege, Belgium

"He is a very good scientist and reasearcher! He is always in a good mood and ready to help his colleagues."

Aminata Bicego, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"Leandro is always the person we turn to when we are having an issue and he always gives good advice!"

Marie Vitello, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liege, Belgium

"Leandro is a medical doctor working in the field of research on consciousness. As a colleague not only he is incredibly bright and knowledgeable (he speaks 5 languages fluently!) but he is also kind and available to help his lab co-workers. He is also the type of colleague that enjoys the team spirit and is always down for some team-building quality time! Overall real hero!!"

Alice Barra, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"Leandro is a very friendly and hard-working team player, always providing you with the help you need and renewed inspiration. Be it work related, with his excellent scientific rigor matched by the highest regard for patient well-being and his continuous eagerness to learn and improve, or related to your general happiness with him inspiring to stay active outside of work through social activities and sport, you can always count on Leandro!"

Glenn Van der Lande, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"Leandro is a real asset to the lab. He is a team player and always takes the time to share his knowledge and expertise with new PhD students. In addition to being extremely competent in his field and super smart, he also has a great personality and is really fun. He has everything it takes to become a great scientist and a great clinician."

Aurore Thibaut, Coma Science Group, University of Liège, Belgium

"Our best PhD candidate working hard to improve neurological outcome and quality of life after coma - proud to be his PHD director!"

Steven Laureys, GIGA Consciousness Research Unit, University of Liège, Belgium

"Leandro is a bright, motivated, and enthusiastic medical scholar. He works efficiently, is a great team player, and is always available to help anyone in the lab. He is also an elegant advocate for our group in international consortia and gives excellent talks. He also practices multiple sports at a high level and he is always down for any extra-curricular activities. He is our Lab Hero 2021 and we will miss him dearly next year when he returns to Switzerland to complete his residency."

Olivia Gosseries, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"He strives constantly to improve everything he can for students and staff alike. He is always ready to help even when he is busy himself."

Rodrigo Montenegro, Coma Science Group, University of Liège, Belgium

"He should win because Leandro is always there to help us with work and when we have a problem. He has a very good command of theory and practice, helps with diagnosis and with the software used in research."

Nolwenn Marie, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, Université de Liège, Belgium

"He is full of energy, ideas and initiatives! Very motivated for doing research, but also keeps the patients central, being a Medical Doctor as well. On top of that, Leandro is fun to work with!"

Jitka Annen, Coma Science Group, University of Liege, Belgium

"Léandro is more than a serious PhD student, he is also an awesome colleague and friend! In addition to being able to implement complex and groundbreaking studies for his own thesis, Léandro is also always enthusiastic to be involved in any other research projects and is always available to help his colleagues. I’m also impressed by his unlimited curiosity (in domains as diverse as medicine, psychology, computer engineering, or…Belgian beers ;-) ), his willingness to learn something new and his capacity to retain a lot of information. Last but not least, he is also sport-addict (very impressive performances in many sports), promoting healthy lifestyles everywhere! It is why I nominate him, to reward his diligence and kindness!"

Charlotte Martial, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"As a new PhD student in the lab, Leandro guided me through my research project. He was a great help to me and with this vote I would like to thank him."

Emilie Szymkowicz, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

"Leandro is by far one of the funniest and hard-working people I know. He always smiles and he's open to helping others with clinical duties, or throwing a party!"

Paolo Cardone, Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Belgium

Nomination Category: Lab Scholar

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Who's your Lab Hero?

This is your chance to give back to the scientists who make – or who have made – a positive difference to your life, career, and workplace. That might be putting in extra effort in the lab, supporting their colleagues in difficult times, producing incredible results through their work, or making the lab a better place for everyone...

NOMINATE YOUR LAB HERO NOW!

Nominations close 8th December 2021. T&Cs apply.