Dreaming a better future for Armenia

In this episode:A duty towards countryThe stars that guide her“You have lost your ability to dream”A Soviet educationThe importance of empathyProgress in stroke care in ArmeniaOf dreams and travelNune Yeghiazaryan is head of neurology at Erebouni Medical Center in Yerevan, president of the Armenia Stroke Council, and a member of the European Academy of Neurology, the ESO and the WSO.For over a decade, she has been answering the question, if not now, then when, if not you then who, and following that command has done more than define her professional life. The first time she attended the European Stroke Organization Conference (ESOC), in Barcelona in 2016, she was a shy, young doctor from Armenia who could scarcely believe that she was suddenly part of it all. Nine years on, we’re at ESOC 2025, where that same doctor is a nominee for the Spirit of Excellence Award, and stroke care in Armenia, though with some way to go, is already unrecognizable from 10 years ago. Her extraordinary story begins in a Soviet School where she is top of the class and destined to become a doctor ...  “My parents and grandparents are very, very proud of me because I am the best in the school,” she recalls. “And in Soviet Armenia, it was accepted that the good pupils became either doctors or lawyers. But I’m a girl. And according to my grandfather, becoming a lawyer is not an appropriate profession for a girl . . .”  Find out more about the Angels Initiative www.angels-initiative.com