Prof. Blanca Fuentes

Spain

Chair of the Council of Fellows

Blanca Fuentes is the Head of the Stroke Unit at the La Paz University Hospital Stroke Center and a Senior Lecturer in Neurology at the School of Medicine at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is actively involved in initiatives aimed at improving stroke care. Her PhD thesis focused on analysing the effectiveness of acute stroke units. At the regional level, Dr. Fuentes has played a key role in establishing innovative organizational models for stroke care in the Madrid Health Region, such as Telestroke and TIA Clinics. Since 2014, she has been a member of the advisory board for the Madrid Health Government, contributing to the development and implementation of the Madrid Stroke Plan. Additionally, since 2019, she has served on the advisory board for the Madrid Pediatric Stroke Code.

Dr. Fuentes has participated in developing guidelines for stroke management for the ESO, focusing on areas such as glycemia management and Moyamoya disease. Currently, she is involved in the development of the ESO guidelines on primary stroke prevention guidelines. She has been highly engaged with the ESO activities: fellow of the ESO since November 2016; co-Director of the ESO Summer School 2016 (Madrid); past member of the ESO Membership Committee (2016-2017), the ESO Trials Network Committee (2016-2020) and of the ESO Guidelines Board (2019-2023) and Chair of the Educational Committee for the development of the teaching courses /workshops program at the ESO Conferences 2018 and 2019; Member of the Board of Directors since 2020 and Chair of the ESO Council of Fellows since may, 2024.

Furthermore, she is actively pursuing a research career in the field of stroke, serving as the principal investigator on several research projects funded by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Recently, she was awarded the Stroke Scientific Award 2023 by the Spanish Society of Neurology.