Author: Dr Tom Moullaali1,2 twitter: @tom_moullaali
Affiliations: 1Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK, 2George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia
Did you attend the European Stroke Organisation Conference 2022?
There were over 4000 participants onsite and online from 107 countries: were you one of them? Did you attend in person or online? I attended in person and enjoyed catching up with familiar faces for the first time in several years. I thought the conference was a great success – hats off to the organising committee and everyone else involved!
What did you think about the state of play for stroke research?
There was a wealth of cutting edge stroke research: from plenary sessions with results from breaking clinical trials, to scientific sessions covering a broad range of topics, and over a thousand e-posters. I attended the plenary sessions and several scientific sessions, including those dedicated to research about patients with intracerebral haemorrhage. Considering the challenges many have faced over the past few years, it makes the scientific progress on display all the more impressive.
What did you take away from the conference?
There were some important clinical trial results with implications for clinical practice: what will you take back to your local department that has the potential to change your practice?
I was struck by the increasing number of early-career researchers who did stellar jobs presenting their work, including in the most high-profile sessions. I attended the ESO young stroke physician and researchers committee meeting which focussed on several initiatives to promote the careers of early-career researchers from around the world (more details here: https://eso-stroke.org/about-eso/who-we-are/young-stroke-physicians-and-researchers-committee/) . The future is looking bright for the next generation of stroke researchers!
What’s on the horizon?
ESOC 2023 Munich will be here before we know it! What’s on your stroke research horizon for the coming year?
I’m excited about the upcoming ESO Edinburgh Stroke Research Workshop on 10th-12th October 2022. This fantastic 3-day course residential course set in the beautiful city of Edinburgh is aimed at early-career researchers who want to develop a research question for a PhD or MD project. There are lectures, small group sessions and several opportunities for tailored individual feedback from leading European stroke researchers. Read more and apply here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/clinical-brain-sciences/postgraduate-study/stroke-research-workshop. Don’t miss the application deadline of 15th June 2022.
I’d love to hear your thoughts: get in touch @tom_moullaali on Twitter for more discussion!