ESO Spirit of Excellence awards

The winners of the Spirit of Excellence Award 2023 were announced during a live event at ESOC 2023. Watch the video or scroll down to meet the winners and nominees recognized for their commitment to stroke care excellence and for their outstanding contributions to raising the standard of treatment in their hospitals and communities. 

spirit of excellence awards

SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS AND NOMINEES 2023

Andrea
ANDREA ZINI

Neurologist at Ospedale Maggiore Carlo Alberto Pizzardi Bologna, Dr Zini is always willing to test new initiatives, introduce innovations in stroke code activation and share his experience with the stroke community. His hospital was the first in Italy to win an ESO Angels Award, and the first to apply for ESO Stroke Unit Certification.

VLADIMÍRA TATARKOVÁ
VLADIMIRA TATARKOVÁ

Physiotherapist in the neurological department at Liptovský Mikuláš Polyclinic, Mgr Tatarkova commands exceptional theoretical and practical skills and is an innovator in stroke patient recovery support, and dedicated to improving stroke care in the post-acute phase.

Assoc Ales
ALEŠ TOMEK

Neurologist at Faculty Hospital Motol, Assoc Prof Tomek is his country‘s leading strokologist. He actively works to raise the bar for stroke care quality standards in the Czech Republic, including working with the Ministry of Health and health insurance providers to gain a comprehensive overview of stroke care in the country.

Prof Adam
ADAM KOBAYASHI

Neurologist at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology Warsaw, Prof Kobayashi leads the Angels Steering Committee in Poland, and is President of the Polish Neurovascular Section of the Polish Neurological Society. As well as a major influence on stroke care improvement in Poland, he is an ardent supporter of the FAST Heroes campaign.

dream team
“DREAM TEAM” OF NEUROLOGISTS

Lead by national coordinator prof. Cristina Tiu, neurologists Dr. Elena Oana Terecoasă, Dr. Vlad Tiu and Dr. Răzvan Radu of Spitalul Universitar De Urgență București earned their reputation as a dream team by investing 100s of hours to train almost 3,000 healthcare professionals to date. They are shaping the future of medicine in Romania through their dedication, leadership and thrust for change.

Georgios
GEORGIOS TSIVGOULIS

Neurologist and professor at University Hospital Attikon, Prof Tsivgoulis is a leader in stroke care improvement in Greece, and Vice-President of the ESO. He believes stroke care excellence requires an integrated approach including primary and secondary prevention, acute stroke management, rehabilitation and community reintegration – with a focus on evidence-based practice.

Prof. Daniel
DÁNIEL BERECZKI

Head of the Neurology Clinic in Semmelweis University in Budapest, Prof Bereczki is a past president of the Hungarian Stroke Society and his country’s national RES-Q coordinator. He is an inspiring advocate for quality monitoring whose impact on stroke care in Hungary spans two decades.

Maria Alex
MARIA ALEXANDRA LOURENÇO AFONSO

A speech therapist at Unidade Local de Saude do Litoral Alentejano in Santiago do Cacém, she is focused on fostering teamwork in the stroke patient’s rehabilitation plan, including providing training in managing dysphagia and aphasia.

Dr Isabel
ISABEL CRISTINA TAVEIRA DOS SANTOS SILVA

Internist and stroke expert at Centro Hospitalar Universitario do Algarve and a fierce fighter for stroke care improvement, she carries out formal and informal training for professionals and patients, and actively seeks to achieve articulation between primary and hospital health care through health education.

Dr Hipolito
HIPÓLITO NZWALO

Neurologist at Faro Hospital, Dr. Hipólito is noted for his exceptional dedication to providing the highest quality care to stroke patients, and is well-known in his community for his exceptional teamwork and patient-centered approach. He is actively involved in EMS training and in several patient-related areas.

Dr Diana
DIANA VIDAL

A neurologist at Hospital Universitario de León, Dr Vidal is noted for her energy and passion, as a result of which many stroke survivors can now live their lives with dignity. She has also helped open doors in her region to the FAST Heroes campaign, thereby impacting almost 900 children.

proyecto
PROYECTO FLECHA TEAM

Almuena Fernández Prados, Sergio González-Román Montalván and Álvaro López Castro are neurology nurses at Hospital Regional Universitario in Málaga, and the originators of Proyecto Flecha, a visual “checklist” that standardises post-acute care in the stroke unit

Raimundo
RAIMUNDO CARO QUESADA

Neurology nurse at Hospital Universitario Virden Del Rocío in Seville, Raimundo is an advocate of scientific research in neurovascular nursing care whose many achievements include founding the stroke unit at his hospital, and the Spanish Society of Neurological Nursing (SEDENE).

Dr Mykhailo
MYKHAILO TONCHEV

Head of neurosurgery at Sklifosovskii Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital, Dr Tonchev is also Chief Neurosurgeon of the Poltava Region, and a cofounder of the Angels stroke simulation centre in Poltava. He works closely with Angels to implement stroke care improvement models not only in his own hospital but throughout Ukraine.

Dr Lyudmila
LYUDMILA LYPOVENKO

Head of the stroke department at Bila Tserkva City Hospital n2, Prof Lypovenko was one of the first neurologists in Ukraine to implement the Angels model in her hospital, which to date has won nine ESO Angels Diamond Awards.

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners and Nominees 2022

The winners of the Spirit of Excellence Award 2022 were announced during a live event at ESOC 2022. Meet the winners and nominees recognized for their commitment to stroke care excellence and for their outstanding contributions to raising the standard of treatment in their hospitals and communities. Read more

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners and Nominees 2021

The winners of the Spirit of Excellence Award 2021 were announced during a live event at ESOC 2021. Watch the video or scroll down to meet the winners and nominees recognized for their commitment to stroke care excellence and for their outstanding contributions to raising the standard of treatment in their hospitals and communities. Read more

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners and Nominees 2020

In 2020, 20 healthcare professionals from all over Europe were nominated for the Spirit of Excellence Award. Among the nominees there were many outstanding neurologists of course, but there was also a paramedic and two exceptional nurses. Read more

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners 2019

Among the exceptional people whom we honoured in 2019 was a patient and his wife who had served as our inspiration and reminded us of what we were fighting for. Read more

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners 2018

The 2018 winners of the Spirit of Excellence Award demonstrated how our project had grown: These heroes without capes came from Slovakia, Romania, Italy, Spain and Ukraine. Read more

Spirit of Excellence Award Winners 2017

The Spirit of Excellence Award was launched in 2017 to honour members of the Angels community for exceptional contributions to stroke care. Read More

Honours wall

The Angels Initiative is proud to honour the winners of the ESO and WSO Angels Awards, the EMS Angels Awards and the Spirit of Excellence Awards.