George Howard, DrPH, an internationally recognized leader in biostatistics and stroke epidemiology, has been named the 2025-2026 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award recipient. Howard is a professor emeritus in the UAB School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics.

This is the highest honor bestowed by UAB’s academic health center on a faculty member who has advanced the frontiers of science and made outstanding contributions to education, research and public service.

Before retiring in 2022, Howard served on the faculty of UAB for over 20 years. He joined UAB in 1999 and served as chair of the UAB Department of Biostatistics for more than a decade. A powerhouse in research and a force for public good, Howard’s work has transformed the understanding of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health disparities.

Shortly after joining UAB, Howard secured a major grant from the National Institutes of Health to launch REGARDS — Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke — a landmark cohort study that enrolled more than 30,000 participants between 2003 and 2007.

REGARDS has been continuously funded since 2001. The study has generated more than 850 peer-reviewed publications and more than $100 million in NIH support.

Among the public health community and beyond, REGARDS is widely regarded as one of the most influential and far-reaching cohort studies of its kind, generating hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications, pioneering new data collection methods adopted by other major NIH research efforts, and fundamentally advancing understanding of racial and geographic disparities in stroke risk and brain health.

Howard’s scholarly impact is extraordinary: more than 600 publications, an h-index of 132 and 96,000-plus citations. This places him among the most cited researchers globally in public health and biostatistics. Howard’s leadership extends beyond REGARDS to major clinical trials such as CREST-2, which aims to advance stroke prevention strategies.

Nominators note that Howard’s numerous awards include the Ancel Keys Lecture and Award and the David Sherman Lecture and Award, both from the American Heart Association; the UAB Presidential Medal (2011); and the Daniel C. Gainey Lectureship in Stroke and Related Diseases at the Mayo Clinic.

Howard will be recognized at the 2025-2026 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer reception and keynote — date and details are forthcoming. Supporters of Howard and members of the UAB community are encouraged to attend the keynote address.