Professor Werner Hacke was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology in Heidelberg from 1987 until 2014 and is nowthe first Senior Professor in Medicine at the Ruprecht Karl´s University Heidelberg, Germany. He graduated in Medicine at the medical school oft he Aachen Technical University (RWTH) and also holds a Masters degree in Psychology. Prof Hacke had a leading role in the development of Neurological Critical Care, acute stroke management and Stroke Unit care, intra-arterial and intravenous thrombolytic therapy and has pioneered hypothermia and decompressive surgery for malignant MCA-infarction. Prof Hacke was the recipient of the Yamanouchi Europe research Award, the first non-US recipient of the „Feinberg Award for excellence in stroke research“, given by the American Stroke Association (1998), and the first recipient of the Karolinska Stroke Award, Stockholm, Sweden in 2004, the WSO Presidents Award in 2008, the Mihara Award (Japan) and the Jarecki Award (USA) both in 2009. In 2013 he was awarded the Wepfer Award by the European stroke conference. In 2018 he received the ESO science award and in 2020 the WSO Leadership in Stroke Award. He was President of the German Neurological Society 2000-2002 and the President of the German Intensive Care Society 2002-2004. He was the founding President of the European Stroke Organization (ESO) and is now its Honorary President. He is Honorary Member of the German Neurological Society, the German Stroke Society, both the German Society of Neurosurgery and the German Society of Neuroradiology, a Honorary Fellow of American Neurological Association (ANA), and a Honorary President of Neurocritical Care Society (NCS). Dr. Hacke is a Member of the Heidelberg Academy of SciencesHe holds honorary doctor degrees given by the State University of Georgia (Tblisi, Georgia) and the University of Debrecen, Hungary. Dr. Hacke was and is involved with many clinical studies, both industry-supported and investigator driven. Recently he lead studies such as ECASS I-IV, AbESTT I and II, DIAS I and II, CHARISMA, DESTINY and DESTINY II, SPACE I and II, ROCKET AF, and others as chair or co-chair of the steering committees. Werner Hacke has published more than 500 articles listed in pubmed. His h-index is 151 (google-scholar citations). With almost 200,000 citations (July 2029) he is one of the most frequently cited Clinical Neurologist worldwide. He was a "highly cited researcher" by Thomson Reuter for several years) including 2018-2020.

Prof. Graeme J. Hankey, MBBS, MD, FRCP, FRCPEdin, FRACP, FAHA, FESO, FWSO, FAHMS Graeme Hankey is Professor of Neurology at The University of Western Australia, Consultant Neurologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and honorary senior research fellow at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. His main research interests include epidemiological studies and clinical trials of treatment strategies for acute stroke and stroke prevention. He has led large international clinical trials including the VITATOPS and AFFINITY trials, and chairs the Data Safety Monitoring Board of several trials. He is an Associate Editor of Circulation, Editorial Consultant for The Lancet Neurology and JACC Advances, Section co-Editor for the Epidemiology, Outcomes, & Population Science section of Stroke, editorial board member of the Cochrane Stroke Review Group, Neuro-epidemiology, and Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, and senior advisory board member of Cerebrovascular Diseases. He is a Web of Science Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher for 2017-2019, having co-authored 13 books and >1030 publications, which have yielded > 145,000 citations (h-index 146). He has delivered > 570 invited lectures at international (n=342), national (n=132), and local (n=101) scientific meetings. He was awarded the 2015 American Stroke Association David G. Sherman Award for outstanding lifetime contributions in the field of stroke. https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/graeme-hankey

Dr Kate Hayward is a Senior Research Fellow in the Departments of Physiotherapy, Medicine and The Florey at the University of Melbourne. Kate leads the REPAIR Research Group which seeks to understand the brain-behaviour nexus during stroke recovery. Kate currently leads trials funded by NHMRC, MRFF, Heart Foundation and Stroke Foundation in Australia; and collaborates on international research projects funded by the NIH in USA and CIHR in Canada. Kate currently co-Chairs the third international Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable.

I am an Associate Professor and Consultant for Neurology and Stroke and Deputy Head of the Neurovascular Outpatients Clinics at the University of Bern/Switzerland. I studied and trained as a Neurologist and Strokologist in Bern/Switzerland, Oxford/UK and Krems/A. My clinical and research interest focuses on stroke (particularly on atherosclerosis in different vascular beds, intracranial atherosclerosis, secondary prevention, large vessel occlusions, stroke scales, emergency triage, acute therapy). I have published more than 100 publications, of which the majority are original contributions in international high-ranking journals. I have international clinical trial experience and I am principal investigator of several monocentric studies. I am a peer reviewer of several international journals and Editorial Board Member for BMC Neurology and Front Neurol. My research has been awarded multiple awards (e.g. ESO/WSO, Swiss Stroke Society) and has been supported by several grants. I am a member of different professional associations (e.g. ESO Fellow, member of WISE). I am a member of the evaluation committee of grants for trainees and equality for protected research time at the University of Bern and member of the ESO Education Committee and of the ESO and WSO Board of Directors. 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 equality. I am co-organiser of the ESO-ESMINT-ESNR Stroke Winter School and of ESO-ESO-department-to-department visits at the University of Bern. I am teaching at the University of Bern (clinical and neurosonography skills training, tutorials, seminars).

Randall Higashida, MD is Professor of Clinical Radiology, Neurological Surgery, and Neurology at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. He is also Chief of the Division of Neurointerventional Radiology and oversees four hospitals. He earned his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA. He has served as a member of numerous medical and scientific committees and is the past president of the Society of Neuro Interventional Surgery, past chairman of the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Interventions, a member of the U.S. FDA Neurological Devices Advisory Panel, and was on the oversight committee of the National Institutes of Health trial for carotid artery stenting. Dr Higashida has published >380 scientific articles and authored >110 book chapters, and presented at >400 medical conferences nationally and internationally.

Dr Saima Hilal is currently an Assistant Professor at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Her major expertise sets in neuroimaging, epidemiology, plasma based biomarkers and cognition in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and healthy aging. Her research involves exploring both vascular and neurodegenerative causes to cognitive impairment in community and hospital based settings. Her strong and devoted passion in neuro-epidemiology and biomarkers of aging research have resulted in one of the most prolific research output with more than 130 publications including lead authorships in top journals including JAMA Neurology, Stroke, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Neurology, Brain and Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.