I, Dr. Serah Kalpakavadi, an Indian citizen, completed my Bachelors degree in Medicine from Lugansk state medical university in Ukraine (2014). Following, I moved back to India and did a 6 month certification course, Postgraduate diploma in clinical research and Pharmacovigilance. Later, I started working in a clinical research organisation, ICON plc, as the Associate clinical data coordinator. Then I worked as a Clinical Assistant in the Believers Advanced Stroke and Intervention center, under the department of Neuromedicine at Believers Church medical college and hospital. I worked there for 2.5 years and obtained a strong knowledge in stroke and intervention protocol, came across numerous acute stroke cases (small and large vessel) which increased my passion in this field. Later, I moved to Australia to pursue my Masters degree in Public health and I recently graduated from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane in August, 2021. I majored in Epidemiology and Research methods, in which I was trained to use SPSS and Jamovi statistical software alongside gaining knowledge in advanced epidemiological concepts.

Pooja Khatri is a Tenured Professor of Neurology at University of Cincinnati (UC) in the USA, Director of the UC Stroke Team and the Vascular Neurology Division, and Co-Director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute Stroke Center of Excellence. She received her BSc in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and MD from University of Illinois. After neurology residency at University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Khatri completed an NIH SPOTRIAS fellowship in vascular neurology at UC. She is an NIH Career Development Award (K23) and American Heart Association (AHA) Siekert Award recipient. She also completed a Masters in clinical epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. Her expertise includes acute stroke, epidemiology, and clinical trials more broadly. She co-directs the NIH StrokeNet’s National Coordinating Center. Currently funded studies also include the epidemiology of brain health, clinical trials of acute reperfusion and early prevention, and acute biomarkers of recovery. She has participated in FDA advisory, ethics, and data safety and monitoring boards. She is Associate Editor of the AHA Stroke journal, member of the AHA Stroke Council Leadership, and Secretary of the World Stroke Organization. She has authored over 200 manuscripts, including national and international guidelines.

Studied medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck, start of scientific work in the field of early vascular ageing and prevention of cerebro- and cardiovascular diseases during university, start of clinical PhD studies (Neurology) in 2019 at the Medical University of Innsbruck, conduction of clinical studies at VASCage - Research Centre of Vascular Ageing and Stroke in Innsbruck, Austria.

A/Prof Monique Kilkenny is the Head of the National Stroke Data Linkage Program (Senior Research Fellow) in the Stroke and Ageing Research Group within the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health at Monash University. A/Prof Kilkenny is a highly experienced epidemiologist who has worked in research for over 25 years at National and International level. In 2019, A/Prof Kilkenny received a Dean’s Award for Research Excellence from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences as recognition of her work in the National Stroke Data Linkage Program (towards an integrated national data platform for stroke).

Tae Jung Kim, MD, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Critical Care Medicine (Neurology) Seoul National University Hospital

Bernadette Kirzinger is a young doctor from Berlin, Germany. Growing up in Bavaria, she graduated medical school at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in July 2021. During her studies, Bernadette started working for the “Center of Stroke Research” in Berlin and discovered her interest in this field. In 2018 she she started her doctor thesis about inflammatory markers in patients with subacute stroke, based around data from the multicentered PHYS-STROKE trial.

Dawn Kleindorfer, MD Chair, Department of Neurology, the University of Michigan Dr. Kleindorfer received her B.S. in biology from Indiana University, and completed her undergraduate medical education at Washington University, St. Louis, followed by a neurology residency at the University of Michigan, where she also served as Chief Resident, before completing a fellowship in Cerebrovascular Disease at the University of Cincinnati. Upon completion of her training, she was recruited to the faculty of UC, where she rose to become Director of Vascular Neurology, and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Women’s Initiatives. She is an accomplished and respected researcher and leader in vascular neurology, with a research focus on stroke epidemiology and racial disparities. She has been continuously funded at the R01 level since 2006 and has produced more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. She serves as chair of the education core of the National Institutes of Health StrokeNet and is a fellow of the American Heart Association and a member of the Stroke Council of the American Stroke Association. She has received many awards for her work, including the American Neurological Association’s Derek Denney-Brown Outstanding Neurological Clinical Research Scholar Award, the American Stroke Association International Stroke Research Mentor Award, and the UC Neurology Faculty Teacher of the Year award. She was one of 50 women faculty selected for the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.