I joined ESO in 2019 when I was undertaking my PhD fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. I was encouraged to join by mentors Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, Craig Anderson and Else Charlotte Sandset. I was invited to present my work at ESOC 2019 and was nominated for the ESO Young Stroke Physician and Researcher (YSPR) committee the same year. I have enjoyed contributing to ESO activities since.

I recently submitted my PhD thesis about associations of blood pressure variability with the characteristics and outcomes of patients with intracerebral haemorrhage. I had my thesis defense last month! I am excited to share more work on this topic at ESOC 2021.

As many clinician-researchers know, achieving a balance between work and personal life can be a challenge. My approach involves being organised, prioritising my workload carefully, and most importantly, teamwork.

I have benefited from opportunities to work with inspirational colleagues from around the world. They have encouraged me to pursue my interests and educated me about how to do good research. My advice: don’t be afraid to ask! Senior researchers are looking for enthusiastic, dedicated people to help them with their mission to improve care for patients through research. Be bold, show interest and willing, and the next opportunity may surprise you. Remember, collaboration is key: play to your strengths and harness the skills of others to get the best outcome.

I first joined the ESO as a junior member in its founding year. My supervisors and mentors have strong bonds with the ESO community. Therefore, it was natural for me to get involved in ESO at my early stroke career stage already and to participate at the ESO Stroke Summer School, which was a fantastic experience and definitely encouraged me to engage within the stroke field and within the ESO community in the years to come. As a young strokologist I was really delighted by the broadening of my horizon I experienced at the ESO Stroke Summer School. I enjoyed meeting many young strokologists from around Europe, many of which became good friends and collaborators. Also, the ESO Stroke Summer School revealed, that despite different cultures and backgrounds in different countries, we are all aiming for lowering the burden of stroke.

I am currently working on different research projects, which are about cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, minor stroke, intracranial atherosclerosis, acute management or secondary prevention.

From a clinical point of view, I am deputy head of the neurovascular outpatient clinics at the Inselspital, at the University hospital of Bern. Also, I am teaching at the University of Bern (clinical and neurosonography skills training, tutorials, seminars).

At ESO, I am fellow and member of the education committee and of the board of directors. In those ESO positions, my priorities are the implementation of the ESO European Stroke Action Plan, secondary stroke prevention and promotion of junior strokologists – especially those from middle- and low-middle-income countries – and gender equity. I am also co-organiser of the ESO-ESMINT-ESNR Stroke Winter School and the ESO Department-to-Department visits at the University of Bern.

I am curious, adventurous, persistent, open- and strong-minded, idealistic, genuine, ambitious and efficient. I enjoy the colorfulness, diversity, challenges, freedom and chances of my academic and ESO activities. My family, social network and hobbies are important for me. I like exploring and travelling worldwide – to broaden my horizon and to get insight into different cultures. I enjoy spending time in nature. I do sports, especially skiing, swimming and hiking. I enjoy thought-provoking conversations and lectures, visiting museums, reading good books of all sorts, attending cultural events and classical music concerts and taking photographs.

If you are naturally drawn towards engagement in the stroke field, just go for it.

I joined ESO during the first European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) in 2015, Glasgow. I had actually just started neurology residency in the Helsinki University Hospital in 2014 and this was the first stroke conference for me ever, with a first abstract presentation as well. So obviously everything about it was quite unique and I’ve been attending ESOC every year since then. Coming together from all around the world to disseminate research findings and to interact with collaborators is highly important – hopefully we will be able to meet in person again soon.

My research currently focuses on risk factors and triggers in early-onset cryptogenic stroke as a part of the SECRETO Study (Searching for Explanations for Cryptogenic Stroke in the Young: Revealing the Etiology, Triggers, and Outcome, NCT01934725), Associate Professor Jukka Putaala as its principle investigator. SECRETO is an international multicenter study aiming to evaluate accurately risk factors, mechanisms, and prognosis of cryptogenic ischemic stroke in young adults aged under 50 years. The study is currently recruiting participants in several European countries aiming to complete the recruitment by the end of 2021 with 600 case-control pairs.

I believe being active in ESO as such is a great change to my clinical work and other obligations. I’ve met amazing young colleagues in e.g. Young Stroke Physicians and Researchers (YSPR) Committee and it has been enriching both in clinical knowledge and personal experience. ESO is definitely the main reference for all stroke physicians and promotes and supports also interactions for the purpose of research collaboration.

With all said above, I strongly recommend getting involved in Stroke Organizations in addition to clinical work and research. I believe these domains complete each other and such organizations can act as platforms for networking, influence, exchange in experience, and career promotion. I encourage you to read this article, published a few years ago by my colleagues in the ESO YSPR Committee for more details on the benefits of joining a stroke organisation and taking an active role.

Schmidt A, Katan M, Sandset EC. Why Is It Worthwhile to Get Involved in Stroke Organizations? Stroke. 2017 Oct;48(10):e277-e279.

I would like to emphasize the positive influence of my first teacher in neurology, academician Professor Arstanbek Murzaliev, who is celebrating his 90th anniversary this year. Professor Murzaliev inspired us, his students, to maintain professional ties with colleagues abroad and encouraged us to bring changes to the field of neurology in our country based on the latest achievements of neurological science worldwide. This is precisely what became the motivation for my participation in the ESO EAST Project, to which my mentor Professor Elmira Mamytova kindly invited me.

I have a strong and a vivid memory of my first participation in the ESO event taking place in Georgia during the 6th World Stroke Organisation’s regional meeting “Tbilisi 2015: Stroke diagnosis and prevention”.  At this conference I represented Kyrgyzstan with a speech on stroke services in my country in the workshop “Stroke in the Black Sea Region and Central Asia”. This meeting was the first step in establishing a network of stroke professionals in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in cooperation with leaders in stroke services around the world. I clearly remember my impression of the reports of Professor Nathan Bornstein, Professor Valeria Caso and Professor Robert Mikulik. Most of all, I was impressed by the idea that recognized European leaders in the field of stroke research would share their experiences and help organize stroke services for the countries participating in the ESO EAST project.

In 2015 the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) launched the ESO EAST (European Stroke Organisation – Enhancing and Accelerating Stroke Treatment) project. The aim of this project is to facilitate the implementation of new proven approaches in stroke diagnostics, management and treatment. Kyrgyzstan joined the ESO EAST project in 2015 and I had the honor of representing the interests of my country.

I am very grateful to my team, with whom I worked during the period 2015-2020: highly motivated student volunteers, residents of hospitals in Bishkek and doctors from all regions of Kyrgyzstan. We were able to introduce the RES-Q stroke registry in regional capitals and rural areas, established cooperation with the educational organization Angels Initiative, conducted many trainings on assessment and evidence-based stroke treatment for hospital doctors, as well as doctors and paramedics of Bishkek’s emergency medical center. There we were also able to implement the NIHSS scale to assess all patients suffering from stroke and develop an algorithm for recognizing the first symptoms of stroke, called “SOKKU”, the Kyrgyz analogue of FAST. I would like to emphasize that I was inspired by both the ESO leaders as well as the attended professional trainings to promote evidence-based initiatives in my country.

In December 2019 I had the opportunity to stay at the San Camillo Hospital in Rome, Italy, for one week by invitation of Professor Francesca Romana Pezzella, who I met during her visits to Kyrgyzstan in 2017 in her role as the ESO expert for the „Roadmap for Stroke“ project. I participated as part of the working group in this project and was working with Dr. Pezzella during her visits in Kyrgyzstan as well as online. My special focus in research always has been the stroke services organization, stroke pathways and stroke management. Having been involved in the changes of stroke management in Kyrgyzstan, I was planning to observe an entire stroke pathway  at the San Camillo Hospital, which is the “hub” for stroke management in Italy’s Lazio region.

The atmosphere in the stroke and general neurology departments at the San Camillo Hospital was welcoming and positive. Doctors and nurses were friendly to all visiting specialists, they collaborated and included them in the daily routine very fast. I also learned that this special atmosphere of “cheerfulness”, optimism, mutual assistance and positive emotions is very typical for Italy.

We took an example of our colleagues from Italy, who also struggled to implement changes, such as new stroke scales, electronic records, robotic pharmacy and highly functioning neuroimaging inside the same pavilions, for years, but finally made it possible due to their highly collaborative work.

I would like to emphasise the importance of participating in such ESO initiatives as the ESO Summer School and the ESO Edinburgh Stroke Workshop for young colleagues. Where else will you have the opportunity to get first-hand knowledge from professors while also having direct access to them for questions and discussions during the coffee breaks?

At the same time, I would like to encourage my colleagues not only to gain knowledge for their personal growth, but also to invest part of their time and expertise in representing and growing ESO in their respective countries, because we are progressing only by sharing what we have received. This also is my motto in my life and professional environment.