Professor Anna Ranta, MD, PhD, FRACP, FAHA, FAAN - Dr Ranta Is a Wellington based academic vascular neurologist whose research focuses on knowledge translation and stroke care optimization with a focus on reducing health inequities. She also has an interest in pre-hospital telestroke and stroke electronic decision support tools, having led RCTs in both areas. Her work to date has resulted in 200+ peer reviewed publications. She is actively leading several large research programs and collaborates widely with others across Australasia and globally. She is the Head of Department (Chair) of Medicine at University of Otago, Wellington, Clinical Director of the NZ National Hyper-Acute Stroke Program and established and leads the NZ National Stroke Registry. She also led the establishment of the National and Central Region Stroke Networks and the NZ Telestroke initative. More recently she has worked with Fiji and Samoa to optimize stroke care in that region. She is the immediate past President of the Neurological Association of New Zealand, the Secretary of Australian and New Zealand Stroke Organisation, Board Member of the World and Asia Pacific Stroke Organisations, and serves on the editorial boards of Stroke, Neurology, and the Journal of the American Heart Association.