In this episode:A duty towards countryThe stars that guide her“You have lost your ability to dream”A Soviet educationThe importance of empathyProgress in stroke care in ArmeniaOf dreams and travelNune Yeghiazaryan is head of neurology at Erebouni Medical Center in Yerevan, president of the Armenia Stroke Council, and a member of the European Academy of Neurology, the ESO and the WSO.For over a decade, she has been answering the question, if not now, then when, if not you then who, and following that command has done more than define her professional life. The first time she attended the European Stroke Organization Conference (ESOC), in Barcelona in 2016, she was a shy, young doctor from Armenia who could scarcely believe that she was suddenly part of it all. Nine years on, we’re at ESOC 2025, where that same doctor is a nominee for the Spirit of Excellence Award, and stroke care in Armenia, though with some way to go, is already unrecognizable from 10 years ago. Her extraordinary story begins in a Soviet School where she is top of the class and destined to become a doctor ... “My parents and grandparents are very, very proud of me because I am the best in the school,” she recalls. “And in Soviet Armenia, it was accepted that the good pupils became either doctors or lawyers. But I’m a girl. And according to my grandfather, becoming a lawyer is not an appropriate profession for a girl . . .” Find out more about the Angels Initiative www.angels-initiative.com
In this episode:Medicine is emotionalThe schoolboy revelation that medicine is his homeThe second revelation: becoming dedicated to strokeResearch to benefit recoveryWorking with Angels The mission to share knowledgeMeet neurologist Dr Francisco Moniche, “Pachi” to his friends, of whom there are many in the global stroke community. A neurologist for close to two decades, he knew right from the start of his residency that stroke was what he calls “the best part”. With degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s, a doctor could try preserve and improve a patient’s quality of life. But by treating a stroke you could give someone back their life – and that is something this doctor cannot get enough of.Pachi is a stroke neurologist and researcher at Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville, the biggest hospital in southern Spain, famous among other things for the quality of its research. It is the country’s number one provider of mechnical thrombectomy, and a catalyst for stroke care excellence in the region - where it has helped many other hospitals improve their pathway.Pachi is a great friend of Angels, freqently getting involved in training, often in developing countries far from home. “Medicine is something absolutely emotional,” he says in a conversation about transmitting passion to medicine. “It’s much more than just putting a drug to a patient. Sometimes you go home and you are absolutely sad.” Find out more about the Angels Initiative www.angels-initiative.com
In this episode:Stroke care in Ukraine from the early 2000sBecoming a neurologistStroke education outside UkraineMaking a decision to change the systemCoorperation with the Ministry of HealthTraining the next generation of neurologistsSomething missing in the centre of EuropeA family of stroke care reformersUkrainian neurologist, Dmytro Lebedynets is head of the Stroke Center at Feofania Hospital in Kyiv, associate professor at Kharkiv National University, and founder of the Ukrainian Stroke Medicine Society. He steers a group of experts in neurology and neurosurgery in the Ukrainian Ministry of Health who in the past five years have made Ukraine an outstanding example of how to build and improve stroke care. While enrolled in the European Master Program in Stroke Medicine in Krems, Austria, Dmytro became aware that Ukrainian stroke care lagged far behind that in most of Europe. It made no sense. “Ukraine is in the center of Europe. Why should we be nowhere? So that’s why I decided okay, we need to do something.” In a conversation recorded during ESOC in Helsinki, Dmytro describes how, over the next five years, Ukraine would become an outstanding example of how to build and improve stroke care, and what it takes to keep improving while your country is at war. He also talks about the decision to follow his father into neurology, at first reluctantly, and then in turn inspiring his younger brother, Paolo, to become the third stroke care reformer in the Lebedynets family. Find out more about the Angels Initiativewww.angels-initiative.com
Bookmark the new Angels podcast where five doctors share the human stories behind their commitment to improve outcomes for stroke patients. The conversation ranges from dreams to split-second decision-making, as they grapple with the question: if not you, then who? Listen to this clip from Episode #1 where Dr Dmytro Lebedynets from Ukraine talks about building a stroke service almost from scratch, and what it takes to keep improving while your country is at war.