Case Study

Case Study: American Neurological Association

Powering the Wolfe Research Prize with Reviewr

Overview

The American Neurological Association (ANA) presents the Wolfe Research Prize for Identifying New Causes or Novel Treatment of Neuropathy and Related Disorders — an annual award recognizing outstanding investigators whose work has significantly advanced understanding of pathogenesis or treatment of neuropathy and related neurological conditions. The award honors excellence regardless of institutional affiliation or career stage and includes an honorarium, complimentary meeting registration, travel support, and a commemorative plaque. Applicants are required to submit a nominee statement, CV, and supporting letters of nomination. The awardee presents findings at the ANA Annual Meeting.

Recognizing the need for a scalable, equitable, and efficient awards infrastructure that can support multiple concurrent campaigns and complex nomination workflows, ANA implemented Reviewr to power this award and its broader suite of honors.

The Challenge

As a prominent society in academic neurology and neuroscience, ANA’s awards portfolio — including the Wolfe Research Prize — required a platform capable of:

Handling diverse nomination workflows: Both self-nominations and third-party nominations needed to be supported seamlessly, with nominees receiving notification and directed to the standard application form regardless of how they entered the process.
Managing external letters of recommendation: Applicants must collect two letters — one detailing research accomplishments and one seconding letter — from separate individuals, and ANA needed visibility into outstanding reference submissions with automated reminders to ensure completion prior to review deadlines.
Supporting rich supporting materials: Nomination packets include nominee statements, CVs, abstracts, and additional supporting documents (e.g., abstract for publication and presentation materials).
Facilitating fair and rigorous review: Scores based on defined criteria from external judges needed to be aggregated consistently, with tools for rubric-based scoring, normalization of reviewer tendencies, and support for external (non-ANA) assessors.
Scaling multiple awards: ANA’s suite includes many concurrent awards, each with unique workflows and committees, requiring an award infrastructure that can be configured and managed independently yet operate under one platform.
Ongoing data capture and reporting: Beyond selection, ANA needs to collect outcomes information from winners (e.g., abstracts submitted, presentations delivered) and maintain historical records of contributions for future evaluation and reporting.

The Solution: Reviewr Awards Management Platform

To meet these needs, ANA deployed Reviewr as a centralized platform for its award programs, including the Wolfe Research Prize.

1. Dual Nominator/Nominee Workflow

Reviewr’s flexible intake supports both self-nominations and third-party nominations. When a colleague nominates an investigator, Reviewr automatically notifies the nominee, guiding them to complete the same structured application form used for self-applicants. This ensures consistent information capture and equitable experience for all candidates.

2. Letter of Recommendation Module

Nominees enter the names and emails of their letter writers directly within the Reviewr application. Reviewr then triggers email invitations to those references, linking them to a secure reference portal where they can submit their letters. The platform tracks submission status in real time and sends automated reminders for outstanding references, reducing administrative follow-up and ensuring complete nomination packets.

3. Structured Document Uploads

Reviewr accommodates resumes/CVs, nominee statements, supporting documents, abstracts, and headshots within a single submission. Uploads are stored and displayed within the nominee’s profile, embedded for convenient judge access without external file tools.

4. Rubric-Driven, Fair Review Processes

Each award campaign in Reviewr is configured with its own scoring rubric and review committee. Judges access submissions securely, complete evaluations using numeric or qualitative criteria, and flag any questions or comments within the system. Reviewr’s scoring algorithms normalize results across judges to mitigate scoring discrepancies, ensuring fair and data-driven selection outcomes.

5. Multi-Award Infrastructure at Scale

Reviewr allows ANA to run multiple award programs concurrently — each with unique workflows, judges, eligibility checks, and deadlines — within one unified platform. Administrators maintain control over configuration, while judges and nominators experience a consistent interface.

6. Ongoing Impact Capture and Reporting

After awardee selection, Reviewr supports impact reporting workflows where recipients upload presentation materials, abstracts, or results of research related to their award. This ongoing data collection supports ANA’s reporting to stakeholders and provides continuity across annual cycles.

Results

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Key Outcomes

Enabled efficient intake and processing of nominations from across the global neuroscience community.
Automated reference submission and tracking, reducing administrative overhead.
Standardized reviewer access and scoring for consistent evaluation.
Scaled multiple concurrent awards without additional system complexity.
Supported longitudinal capture of awardee contributions and outcomes.

The Impact

Through Reviewr, the American Neurological Association has transformed how it administers the Wolfe Research Prize and its suite of academic awards. The platform’s flexible nomination workflows, robust reference management tools, and scalable review infrastructure empower ANA to execute fair, transparent, and data-driven selection processes, while minimizing manual effort and supporting long-term impact tracking of awardees.

This modernized awards ecosystem enhances ANA’s ability to recognize significant scientific contributions in neuropathy research and beyond — fostering excellence in neurological science and reinforcing the prestige of its honors portfolio.

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