Heidi Hanna PhD has been selected to be the 2026 recipient of the IDA’s Healthy Humor IDEAS Award. You have been chosen because, as an integrative neuroscientist, Chief Energy Officer of Synergy Brain Fitness, and New York Times bestselling author, your own personal journey navigating severe anxiety, depression, and high sensitivity served as the ultimate catalyst for your life’s work. Driven by this lived experience, you have dedicated over two decades to decoding the profound relationship between brain health, stress mastery, and the healing power of laughter.

As a Certified Humor Professional (CHP) and former National Board member for the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH), you have brilliantly framed therapeutic humor as a vital “mental massage” capable of reducing cognitive inflammation and sparking neurological recovery. By co-founding the non-profit Beyond Funny Project, you turned personal adversity into a mission that empowers individuals facing the invisible toll of chronic illness to strategically use humor to alter brain chemistry, build psychological resilience, and actively shift their mindset from surviving to thriving.