Mirjam R Heldner, born in 1984, is a Swiss Neurologist and Strokologist at the Stroke Center Bern since 2010. She is Associate Professor for Neurology and Stroke, at the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Bern (Switzerland) and Deputy Head of the Neurovascular Outpatients Clinics, at the Department of Neurology, at the University Hospital of Bern (Switzerland).

Training: She graduated in 2008 from the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Bern (Switzerland). She studied and trained as a Neurologist and Strokologist in Bern (Switzerland). She spent a 1.5-year fellowship at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) with the Oxford Vascular Study Group in 2016/2017. She completed a European MSc Stroke Medicine (ESO), at the Danube University of Krems (Austria) in 2018.

Research areas: As a researcher, she participated in several international studies such as ARUBA, SOCRATES, CADISP-Plus, TREAT-CAD and CONVINCE. She is reviewer of several international high-ranking journals. She has actively participated in several national as well as international conferences. Her research interest focuses on large vessel occlusions, stroke scales, emergency triage, acute therapy, atherosclerosis in different vascular beds, intracranial stenosis, secondary prevention and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

Awards: She has received several awards as first, last or co-author (e.g. by WSO, ESO, Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award, EJoN Award, Peter Huber Award, Day of Bernese Clinical Research Award, SFCNS Award).

Professional: She is Associate Professor for Neurology and Stroke at the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Bern, in Switzerland. She is as member of different professional associations (e.g. WSO, WSO Board of Directors, ESO Fellow, ESO Board of Directors, ESO education committee, ESO WISE steering group). She is a member of the evaluation committee of grants for trainees and equality for protected research time and member of the executive committee of clinical neuroscience at the University of Bern. She is mentoring CWIN (Connecting Women In Neurosciences) at the University of Bern. She is co-organiser of the ESO-ESO-department-to-department visits at the Stroke Center Bern. She is part of the faculty of the ESO-ESMINT-ESNR Stroke Winter School and of the MAS Stroke Medicine, at the University of Bern.

Publications: To date, she has published around 150 publications, of which the majority are original contributions in international high-ranking journals.

Special interests: Her current priorities are the implementation of the ESO European Stroke Action Plan, the promotion of junior strokologists – especially those from middle- and low-income countries, from Eastern Europe and gender equality and equity.

In private: She enjoys travelling, skiing, hiking, reading, photographing and visiting museums and experiencing cultural events.