EP 9: Dr Valeria Caso | Stroke is women's work

Valeria Caso is a neurologist from Italy whose leadership in roles that include past president of the ESO, and past president and co-chair of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe, has inspired many. She is also an outspoken advocate for gender equality in stroke care, and a role model especially for young female neurologists.    

Originally from Germany, she studied medicine in Italy where she met her husband of more than 30 years. The couple have two sons and enjoy living in the green heart of Italy, where the extended family regularly gathers for meals.   

Valeria fights hard to keep the impact of stroke on women on the agenda, and yes she does believe that for stroke in women to get the attention it deserves, we need more women in stroke.   

She says, “This male-guided world has to change because the vision of women will completely change the landscape.”  

ESO president-elect when the Angels Initiative was formally launched in 2016, she recognized an implementation partner in the journey to better stroke care and didn’t hesitate to give the new organization her endorsement.  

Lacking a mentor herself when she was a young doctor, Valeria values opportunities to give back. She says, “When people look at you and say I want to be inspired by you, you have to improve yourself.”   

In this episode  

• Supporting Ukrainian colleagues
• The need to listen / what women bring to stroke care
• Keeping stroke in women on the agenda
• Why we need more women in stroke
• Choices made by a young independent woman
• The alliance with Angels
• Family life in Umbria
• Spending time in nature
• The absence of mentors
• Inspiring others 

In the stroke community, Valeria Caso is a name to conjure with. This charismatic stroke neurologist from Italy is widely admired for her leadership in roles that include past president of the ESO, and past president and co-chair of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe. She is also an outspoken advocate for gender equality in stroke care but it was a photograph that kicked off our conversation in Helsinki last May. In it, Professor Caso stands in front of a minivan that is about to cross the border from Poland into Ukraine, carrying six stroke neurologists from across Europe to a stroke conference in Lviv. What was that experience like, we asked.