Meet the godfather of the Angels Regions strategy, Brazilian neurologist Dr Octávio Pontes Neto, whose home city of Ribeirão Preto became the world’s first Angels City in 2024, in a significant step towards making the world safe for stroke.  

“I’m very proud of this,” he says. “An Angels City, or Angels Region, is all about committing different players to the stroke cause. And in the end, this has been transformative.”

Inspired by his grandmother, who was a piano teacher, Octávio became involved with music at an early age and almost made it his career, at one point having to choose between continuing at medical school or moving to São Paulo with his band. 

The decision to stick with medicine was partly influenced by losing his grandfather as a result of stroke. 

He says, “Looking back, I think it had a very strong impact on my decision to pursue my career in stroke. I’m happy I took this decision, because I really feel that I’m doing what I love, but the music stays with me.”

As editor-in-chief of the World Stroke Academy, Octavio has taken an innovative approach to stroke education, as evidenced by the debut of the WSC Escape Room at last year’s World Stroke Congress in Barcelona.

In this episode

·      An innovative approach to learning about stroke

·      The gap between clinical evidence and implementation

·      The world’s first Angels City

·      Inspiring Ituverava – an Angels Region by telestroke

·      Music as therapy

·      Being a present parent