Simona Sacco is professor of neurology at the University of L’Aquila in L’Aquila, Italy, where she leads the Clinical Neurology research unit. She is the director of the Neurology and Stroke Unit at the Avezzano hospital and leads an Interhospital Headache Referral Centre in the ASL1-Abruzzo. She is the director of the Neurology Residency Programme and a member of the board of directors of the doctoral course in Clinical and Experimental Medicine at the University of L’Aquila. She has an intense teaching activity and is a supervisor and mentor for several physicians and researchers at different career stages.
She has been serving the ESO in activities related to guideline development since 2017. She co-led the Guidelines Workshop Committee from 2017 to 2020. Since 2020 she has served as the co-chair of the Guideline Board. Since 2021 she is also a board member of ESOTA and of the Italian Stroke Research network affiliated to ESOTA. She is an active member of the WISE (Women Initiative of Stroke in Europe) group and a former member of the Young Stroke Physicians Committee.
Dr Sacco was also a representative of the ESO in the Stroke Panel of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and was elected to this panel in 2018-2019. She has held the position of second vice-president of the European Headache Federation (EHF) since 2020.
Her major research and clinical interests are in the field of stroke and headache. She has served as a principal or co-investigator in several projects and has authored more than 200 articles indexed in PubMed, plus several book chapters.
Dr Sacco's term as president of the ESO commences in May 2024.
