About the European Stroke Conference

The European Stroke Conference was founded in 1990 by M.G. Hennerici (Germany) and J. Bogousslavsky (Switzerland). The first meeting was held in Düsseldorf and was attended by about 600 people – and proved to be a great success. At that time only the North American conference existed for clinical researchers and basic scientists to present data from stroke research. The prospect to establish another European stroke meeting was highly challenging. After biannual meetings, 1992 in Lausanne and 1994 in Stockholm and increasing attendance, however, the ESC became an annual, international, well-received and continuously growing stroke conference. This successful meeting took (will take place)  place in the following European cities from 1990 - 2012:

 I. Düsseldorf, Germany 1990
 II. Lausanne, Switzerland 1992
 III. Stockholm, Sweden 1994
 IV. Bordeaux, France 1995
 V. Munich, Germany 1996
 VI. Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1997
 VII. Edinburgh, United Kingdom 1998
 VIII. Venice, Italy 1999
 IX. Vienna, Austria 2000
 X. Lisbon, Portugal 2001
 XI. Geneva, Switzerland 2002
XII. Valencia, Spain, 21-24 May 2003
XIII. Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany, 12-15 May 2004
XIV. Bologna, Italy, 25-28 May 2005
XV. Brussels, Belguim 16-19 May 2006
XVI. Glasgow, United Kingdom 29 May – 1 June 2007
XVII. Nice, France 13-16 May 2008
XVIII. Stockholm, Sweden 26-29 May 2009
XIX. Barcelona, Spain 25 - 28 May 2011
XX. Hamburg, Germany 24-27 May 2011
XXI. Lisbon, Portugal, 22 - 25 May 2012

 

 

Since its foundation in 1990 the ESC has become the largest stroke conference worldwide and will present more than 1200 scientific oral and poster communications  during its 20th annual meeting in Hamburg. More than 3000 clinical and research scientists from > 85 countries are expected to attend the meeting.
Since 2007 the European Stroke Conference announces a stroke meeting for nurses – physiotherapists – speech and occupational therapists - study/monitoring assistants!

Since 2005 the "Johann Jacob Wepfer Award" of the European Stroke Conference honors scientists for their outstanding scientific work in the field of cerebrovascular diseases and significant contributions to our knowledge about treatment of acute stroke. This award was dedicated to:

Prof. J.-C. Baron, United Kingdom in 2005
Prof. M. Kaste, Finland in 2006
Prof. C. Warlow, United Kingdom in 2007
Prof. M.G. Bousser, France in 2008
Prof. JP Mohr, USA in 2009
Prof. J. van Gijn, The Netherlands in 2010

Prof. W. D. Heiss, Germany in 2011

Johann Jacob Wepfer (December 23, 1620 - January 26,1695) was a Swiss pathologist and pharmacologist who was a native of Schaffhausen. He studied medicine in Strasbourg, Basel and Padua, and in 1647 returned to Schaffhausen to practice medicine. JJ Wepfer is remembered for his work concerning vascular anatomy of the brain, and the study of cerebrovascular disease. He was the first physician to hypothesize that the effects of a stroke could not only be caused by ischaemia but also  by bleedings into the brain. He also mentioned that ischaemic  symptoms could be due to a blockage of one of the main arteries that supply blood to the brain. From his postmortem studies, he provided information concerning the carotid and vertebral arteries that supply the brain with blood.  Already six years before Thomas Willis, who is often named for the first observation,  he made a perfect description of the polygon of arteries at the bottom of the brain. In 1658 he published a classic treatise regarding strokes, titled Historiae apoplecticum, the first textbook of cerbrovascular diseases. JJ Wepfer also made important contributions in the fields of experimental pharmacology and toxicology. He performed pioneer research concerning the effects of toxic substances on the heart and blood's circulatory system.