Department to Department Visit Programme

The ESO Department to Department Visit Programme is a grant of EUR 1,500 offered to up to 10 young physicians and researchers to support a short visit of a week or as a contribution to a longer visit to an European department or laboratory.

The programme aims to provide insight into stroke departments outside the applicant’s home country.

The application period for 2023 applications has been extended!
Deadline: 6 March 2023
See below for more details about the application process and deadline.

Who Should Apply?

Physicians or researchers up to 40 years of age – with an interest in the field of stroke.
Applicants must be ESO members. Junior Membership is free, and the application is available here).
The grant can only be received once.
The host institution has to be located in a European country.

In the selection process, we have a special emphasis on applicants from European low-middle and upper-middle income countries (as defined by the World Bank), interested in improving the stroke pathways and care in their institutions and six grants per year are reserved for this purpose.

How to Apply

The application period is now open for 2024 visits.
Interested applicants are requested to complete and submit the following documents all together:

ESO D2D Application Form
Invitation letter from Head of the Department/Institution where you want to visit (Host Institution)
Letter of recommendation from the supervisor or head of your department
Personal letter of motivation (1/2 page)
CV in English (1-2 pages)
List of publications
Copy of national identity card/passport

If you require assistance to establish contact with an institution, please contact Dr. Ellis van Etten from the “ESO Young Stroke Physicians and Researchers committee” by email to e.s.van_etten@lumc.nl.

Applications must be submitted to the ESO Secretariat by email to esoinfo@eso-stroke.org by 28 February 2024.

For any questions, please write to esoinfo@eso-stroke.org

The application period is now closed for 2023 visits.
The application period for 2024 visits will open at the end of 2023. All necessary information will be announced in due time.

2023 Department to Department Visit Programme Grant Awardees

Awardee
Adi Shemesh (Israel)
Alan Cameron (UK)
Ani Kesoyan (Armenia)
Anna Gardin (Italy)
Dorin Cristian Antal (Romania)
Iulia-Cosmina Stoican (Romania)
Iulia-Ioana Enache (Romania)
Maria Magdalena Gabriel (Germany)
Nejra Masic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Sopiko Kartsivadze (Georgia)

Host Institution
Skane University Hospital Malmö-Lund, Sweden
University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland
IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Italy
Oslo University Hospital, Norway
University Hospital Dublin, Ireland
University College London Queen Square, England
University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
IRCCS Foundation C Besta Neurological Institute, Milan, Italy
Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria

Department to Department Visit Reports

Dr. Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen

Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern from Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog

“I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Meinel and Professor David Seiffge for their warm welcome at their hospital and for showing me around in the city of Bern and Switzerland. In addition, I would like to thank Professor Urs Fischer for initially accepting me for a potential Department to Department visit to Bern back in 2019, and Professor Marcel Arnold for making this possible in 2023. I am also grateful for the support of the ESO which gave me this unique opportunity.”

Read Report

Dr. Sopiko Kartsivadze

Medical University of Innsbruck, from S. Khechinashvili University Hospital, Tbilisi

“I should definitely mention that there is a beautiful atmosphere between residents, doctors, students and nurses in the hospital. They make a strong team with knowledge and experience of fighting against stroke. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity that ESO and Prof. Michael Knoflach gave me. It was a really important step forward for my neurological career.”

Read Report

Dr. Iulia-Cosmina Stoican

Stroke Research Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, from The National Institute of Neurology and Neurovascular Diseases, Bucharest

“It is a fantastic opportunity for a young physician to watch protocols and paths that result in a positive outcome, and I am grateful to ESO for making this accessible. It was an eye-opening experience, and I encourage anyone who is interested in stroke to apply for the award. It is appropriate for those interested in clinical aspects as well as those engaged in research. And I am confident that this type of experience will inspire excellent ideas in the future of stroke care.”

Read Report

Awardees and Reports

2023 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2023 awardees:

Adi Shemesh (Israel)
Host Institution: Skane University Hospital Malmö-Lund, Sweden Read report

Alan Cameron (UK)
Host Institution: University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland Read report

Ani Kesoyan (Armenia)
Host Institution: IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Italy Read report

Anna Gardin (Italy)
Host Institution: Oslo University Hospital, Norway Read report

Dorin Cristian Antal (Romania)
Host Institution: University Hospital Dublin, Ireland

Iulia-Cosmina Stoican (Romania)
Host Institution: University College London Queen Square, England Read report

Iulia-Ioana Enache (Romania)
Host Institution: University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland Read report

Maria Magdalena Gabriel (Germany)
Host Institution: RCCS Foundation C Besta Neurological Institute, Milan, Italy Read report

Nejra Masic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Host Institution: Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria Read report

Sopiko Kartsivadze (Georgia)
Host Institution: Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria Read report

2022 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2022 awardees and their hosts:

Alexander Nave (Germany)
Host Institution: University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland / 20-27 June 2022 Read report

Federica Letteri (Italy)
Host Institution: Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland / 12 September – 9 October 2022

Khachik Petrosyan (Armenia)
Host Institution: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Lille, France / 5-19 September 2022 Read report

Kunduz Karbozova (Kyrgyzstan)
Host Institution: Klinik für Neurologie, Linz, Austria / 12-20 September 2022 Read report

Mariam Kekenadze (Georgia)
Host Institution: Perugia University Hospital, Italy / December 2022 Read report

Martina Goeldlin (Switzerland)
Host Institution: University College London Queen Square, England / 14-25 November 2022 Read report

Meri Grigoryan (Armenia)
Host Institution: University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland / 16 July – 1 August 2022 Read report

Peter Waweru (Kenya)
Host Institution: Coimbra University Hospital, Portugal / 8-19 May 2023

Stoiloudis Panagiotis (Greece)
Host Institution: Saint Josef Hospital, Bochum, Germany / 19-26 September 2022 Read report

Trung Nguyen (Vietnam)
Host Institution: Saarland University Hospital, Germany / 5-16 September 2022 Read report

2021 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2021 awardees and their hosts:

Annemijn Algra (The Netherlands)
Host Institution: Oslo University Hospital, Norway / 30 May – 3 June 2022 Read Report

Nada Elsaid (Egypt)
Host Institution: University Hospital of Modena, Italy / 25 June-10 July 2022

Maria Fonseca de Melo Bandeira (Belgium)
Host Institution: CHU Lille, France / 4 October 2021 – 2 October 2022 Read Report

Mihail Kalnev (Bulgaria)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Switzerland / 1 – 31 October 2021 Read Report

Ivan Koltsov (Russia)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Switzerland / 20-26 February 2023 Read Report

Máté Kondor (Hungary)
Host Institution: Segeberger Kliniken, Bad Segeberg, Germany / 9 August – 3 September 2021 Read Report

Raffaele Ornello (Italy)
Host Institution: University of Edinburgh, Scotland / date TBC 2023

Papadopoulos Vassilis (Greece)
Host Institution: Bispebjerg Hospital Copenhagen, Denmark / 14 June – 13 October 2021 Read Report

Apoorva Shankaranarayana (India)
Host Institution: University of Nottingham, United Kingdom / 23 – 28 May 2022 Read Report

Emanuele Spina (Italy)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Switzerland / 18 October – 5 November 2021 Read Report

2020 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2020 Department to Department Visit Programme Awardees. We wish a fruitful, cooperative visit to all involved.

Awardee: Tatia Aprasidze (Georgia)
Host Institution: University Children’s Hospital, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland / 1 – 14 July 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Antonio Ciacciarelli (Italy)
Host Institution: Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain / 7-22 February 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Gleni Halili (Albania)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 23 -29 August 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Mihai Radu Ionescu (Romania)
Host Institution: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Limoge, France / 29 June – 17 July 2020 Read Report

Awardee: Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen (Norway)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 21 January – 3 February 2023 Read Report

Awardee: Lusine Martirosyan (Armenia)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 14-24 December 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Kateriine Orav (Estonia)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 26 – 30 July 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Marieta Valerieva Peycheva (Bulgaria)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 1 – 10 September 2020 Read Report

Awardee: Aurora Semerano (Italy)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 28 June – 9 July 2021 Read Report

Awardee: Dmitar Vlahović (Serbia)
Host Institution: Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway / 17-28 October 2022 Read Report

2019 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2019 Department to Department Visit Programme Awardees. We wish a fruitful, cooperative visit to all involved.

Awardee: Angelo Cascio Rizzo (Italy)
Host Institution: Charite University Hospital, Berlin, Germany / 9 – 15 September 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Silvia Chirobocea (Romania)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 5 – 14 August 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Mercedes de Lera Alfonso (Spain)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 1 – 8 September 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Sofiya Khachaturyan (Armenia)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 2 – 6 December 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Inna Lutsenko (Kyrgyzstan)
Host Institution: San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Department of Neuroscience, Rome, Italy / 27 May – 4 June 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Masiliūnas Rytis (Lithuana)
Host Institution: Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden / 25 March – 5 April 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Sabina Medukhanova (Kazakhstan)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland / 11 – 15 November 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Răzvan Alexandru Radu (Romania)
Host Institution: University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain / 10 – 23 June 2019 Read Report

Awardee: Valentina Rinnoci (Italy)
Host Institution: Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway / 27 January – 4 February 2020 Read Report

Awardee: Floris H.B.M. Schreuder (The Netherlands)
Host Institution: Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom / 5 – 12 September 2019 Read Report

2018 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2018 awardees:

Natalia Andrzejewska (Poland)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland Read Report

Mariana Morais Carvalho Dias (Portugal)
Host Institution: Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain Read Report

Csilla Forro (Romania)
Host Institution: National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Budapest, Hungary Read Report

Julie Haesebaert (France)
Host Institution: Kings’s College, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, London, United Kingdom Read Report

Manea Maria Mirabela (Romania)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland Read Report

Giuseppe Reale (Italy)
Host Institution: Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Read Report

Pasquale Scoppettuolo (Belgium)
Host Institution: Hôpital Roger Salengro, Lille, France Read Report

Susanna Zuurbier (The Netherlands)
Host Institution: Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland Read Report

2017 Awardees

ESO is pleased to announce the 2017 awardees:

Rahim Aliyev (Azerbaijan)
Host Institution: Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Read Report

Kateryna Antonenko (Ukraine)
Host Institution: University Hospital of Perugia, Stroke Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Perugia, Italy Read Report

Anne-Katrin Giese (German/Harvard)
Host Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Univeristy, Munich, Germany Read Report

Dearbhla Kelly (Dublin/Ireland)
Host Institution: University Hospital Lariboisiere, Paris, France Read Report

Patrick Nicholson (Dublin/Ireland)
Host Institution: Inselspital Bern, Neurology Department, Bern, Switzerland Read Report

Alessio Pieroni (Rome/Italy)
Host Institution: Queen Elizabeth University, Stroke Unit, Hospital in Glasgow, United Kingdom