The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, has expanded its International Stroke Conference with multiple pre-conference symposia in 2026. The meeting, scheduled for February 4-6, 2026, in New Orleans, is a premier global event dedicated to advancing stroke and brain health science. The expansion includes five specialized symposia scheduled for February 3, 2026, each targeting distinct aspects of stroke science and care.
The State-of-the-Science Stroke Nursing Symposium will provide updates on nursing topics related to stroke care, including prevention, management, rehabilitation, and program development. Presentations will cover the top 10 changes in the 2025 acute ischemic stroke guidelines impacting nursing, early palliative interventions to promote positive outcomes with acute stroke treatment, unifying stroke care, and connecting stroke survivors with the healthcare system.
A new Brain Health Pre-Con Symposium reflects the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's growing commitment to fostering science that supports optimal brain function across the lifespan. This symposium will explore topics at the intersection of vascular neurology, cognitive neuroscience, aging, and public health. Session topics include the heart-brain connection, post-stroke cognitive and mental health problems, and the use of AI to improve brain health.
The HEADS-UP symposium, which stands for Health Equity and Actionable Disparities in Stroke: Understanding and Problem-solving, is a multidisciplinary scientific forum focusing on race-ethnic disparities in cerebrovascular disease. This collaborative initiative with the American Stroke Association and the National Institutes for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) aims to reduce disparities in stroke and accelerate translation of research to improve outcomes for race-ethnic minorities in the U.S. Details are available in the Program Planner.
The Stroke in Practice: Stroke Lagniappe symposium, formerly known as Stroke in the Real World, highlights scientific advances in cerebrovascular disease while emphasizing their application in clinical practice. This year's topic focuses on addressing challenges in acute stroke management.
The Experimental Stroke Science symposium, formerly Stroke in the Lab World, concentrates on promising new developments in laboratory research and their potential effects on future stroke treatment. Topics include intracerebral hemorrhage immunology, subarachnoid hemorrhage, leukocytes, intracerebral hemorrhage pathophysiology, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and intraventricular hemorrhages.
According to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, stroke is now the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations, including contributions from individuals, foundations, estates, investment earnings, and revenue from educational materials sales. Overall financial information is available here.
For business and technology leaders, this expansion signals significant investment in stroke research infrastructure and highlights areas where technological innovation, particularly in AI for brain health and data analytics for health equity, may intersect with healthcare advancements. The inclusion of AI topics in the Brain Health symposium suggests growing recognition of technology's role in neurological care, potentially opening avenues for tech industry collaboration and investment. The focus on health equity disparities addresses both a critical social issue and a market inefficiency in healthcare delivery, presenting opportunities for data-driven solutions and policy interventions. The experimental science symposium may reveal early-stage research that could translate into future medical technologies or therapeutic approaches, making this conference relevant for investors and executives monitoring the intersection of healthcare, technology, and neuroscience.
