Angels Stroke Heroes : Inspiring the Global Stroke Community

A decade of Angels

The Angels Initiative is 10 years old. In a special birthday edition of the Angels Stroke Heroes podcast, we talk to project lead and cofounder Jan van der Merwe about a decade of Angels, the organization he and Thomas Fischer brought to life in May 2016.   Ten years later, the Angels Initiative has reached every goal, and exceeded every target.   It is estimated that more than 50 million stroke patients will receive evidence-based care in Angels hospitals by 2030.  With over 300,000 registered users on the Angels website, it is the world’s largest stroke community, a truly global movement that spans multiple continents including Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Over 200,000 courses have been completed in our online learning platform, the Angels Academy. World-wide, more than 9,000 hospitals and 1,000 prehospital teams have met the standard for hospital and EMS awards.   The target of 1,500 hospitals by December 2019 was reached in 2018, and the number of registered Angels hospitals now exceeds 10,000. The Angels-supported schools-based awareness program, FAST Heroes, has reached more than one million children and two million grandparents. And the strategy to convert 1000 Angels Regions by December 2027 overshot its target earlier this year.  We asked Jan about the tragic event that became a trigger for an extraordinary intervention in stroke care, about the strategic model that underpins the organization, and about doing things for the right reasons.   In this episode:   * God’s plan & doing things for the right reasons  * The devastating moment that led to the launch of Angels  * A multi-platform behavior change strategy  * Insights about complexity and time  * The real meaning of awards  * The power of communities  * A shocking experience that further shaped his understanding of the mission  * ‘They need not wait to see what others do’  * The next 10 years  Find out more about the Angels Initiative: www.angels-initiative.com

ICH care bundle – a call to action

Evidence that a combination of actions performed together can reduce death and disability in intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke (ICH) was a call to action for the Angels Initiative to devise a set of tools that supports and standardizes implementation.     That task fell to Madeline Bucher and Ines Carvalho who, in this episode of the Angels Stroke Heroes podcast, join us to tell the story of designing a checklist for change.    Intracerebral haemorrhage is the most serious and least treatable form of stroke. And while the past three to four decades saw great strides in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, the fate of ICH patients remained largely unchanged, until the conclusion of studies such as the INTERACT3 clinical research project in 2023. INTERACT3 showed that timely administration of a care bundle that included lowering of systolic blood pressure, strict glucose control, treatment of fever, and rapid reversal of anticoagulation led to less disability, lower rates of death, and better overall quality of life.     During ESOC 2025, INTERACT3 lead investigator and WSO president-elect Prof Craig Anderson made the case for the care bundle in a panel discussion with Professors Pachi Moniche and Robert Mikulik that was initiated and recorded by Angels.     This discussion was the starting point for Madeline and Inês after they accepted a brief to create standardized tools to support the implementation of the ICH care bundle in hospitals.    In this episode  * A call to action  * What was in the brief  * A multi-platform strategy  * Scripting the critical moves  * Ask the experts  * The five platforms in action  * More science, please  Find out more about the Angels Initiative: www.angels-initiative.com

Dr Sheila believes in you

Prof Sheila Martins is founder and president of the Brazilian Stroke Network, Neurology Professor at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Coordinator of the Stroke Programme at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, and Chief of Neurology and Neurosurgery Service at Hospital Moinhos de Vento (a private hospital affiliated to Johns Hopkins Institute).   In 2008, as advisor of the Ministry of Health, she started the organisation of the National Stroke Programme and has since dedicated herself to developing policy, building stroke units, and organising stroke systems not only in Brazil but around the world.  She launched a WSO certification campaign for stroke centers in Latin America in 2021, expanding it to other developing counties after she assumed the WSO presidency in 2022.  Prof Sheila is admired and adored by a generation of young stroke doctors whom she inspires and influences to change stroke care in their own hospitals and countries.   In this episode of the Angels Stroke Heroes podcast, she talks about the importance of taking opportunities when they’re offered, about changing her mind about becoming an engineer, and about what drives her to continue working around the world to change outcomes for stroke patients.    In this episode   * Inspiring young doctors in Latin America  * The importance of hearing ‘you can do it’  * The opportunity that changed everything  * Not becoming an engineer  * The beauty of changing patient outcomes  * Making a difference in the world  * Working with the World Stroke Organization  * The love of dance, cinema and friends  Find out more about the Angels Initiative: www.angels-initiative.com

Stroke is women’s work

Dr Valeria Caso is a neurologist from Italy whose leadership in roles that include past president of the ESO, and past president and co-chair of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe, has inspired many. She is also an outspoken advocate for gender equality in stroke care, and a role model especially for young female neurologists.   Originally from Germany, she studied medicine in Italy where she met her husband of more than 30 years. The couple have two sons and enjoy living in the green heart of Italy, where the extended family regularly gathers for meals.  Valeria fights hard to keep the impact of stroke on women on the agenda, and yes she does believe that for stroke in women to get the attention it deserves, we need more women in stroke.  She says, “This male-guided world has to change because the vision of women will completely change the landscape.” ESO president-elect when the Angels Initiative was formally launched in 2016, she recognized an implementation partner in the journey to better stroke care and didn’t hesitate to give the new organization her endorsement. Lacking a mentor herself when she was a young doctor, Valeria values opportunities to give back. She says, “When people look at you and say I want to be inspired by you, you have to improve yourself.”   In this episode : * Supporting Ukrainian colleagues * The need to listen / what women bring to stroke care * Keeping stroke in women on the agenda * Why we need more women in stroke * Choices made by a young independent woman * The alliance with Angels * Family life in Umbria * Spending time in nature  Find out more about the Angels Initiative: www.angels-initiative.com

I’m doing what I love

Meet the godfather of the Angels Regions strategy, Brazilian neurologist Dr Octávio Pontes Neto, whose home city of Ribeirão Preto became the world’s first Angels City in 2024, in a significant step towards making the world safe for stroke.   “I’m very proud of this,” he says. “An Angels City, or Angels Region, is all about committing different players to the stroke cause. And in the end, this has been transformative.” Inspired by his grandmother, who was a piano teacher, Octávio became involved with music at an early age and almost made it his career, at one point having to choose between continuing at medical school or moving to São Paulo with his band.  The decision to stick with medicine was partly influenced by losing his grandfather as a result of stroke.  He says, “Looking back, I think it had a very strong impact on my decision to pursue my career in stroke. I’m happy I took this decision, because I really feel that I’m doing what I love, but the music stays with me.” As editor-in-chief of the World Stroke Academy, Octavio has taken an innovative approach to stroke education, as evidenced by the debut of the WSC Escape Room at last year’s World Stroke Congress in Barcelona. In this episode ·      An innovative approach to learning about stroke ·      The gap between clinical evidence and implementation ·      The world’s first Angels City ·      Inspiring Ituverava – an Angels Region by telestroke ·      Music as therapy ·      Being a present parent Find out more about the Angels Initiative: www.angels-initiative.com