Ismália De Sousa PhD(c), MSc, RN (She/Her)

Communications and Marketing Chair

Ismália De Sousa brings 14 years experience in stroke and neuroscience nursing to her role as the Chair of the Communications and Marketing team. She is an advanced practice nurse and a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia, and a Research Assistant in the Vancouver Stroke Program at Vancouver General Hospital. Her area of research is the intersection between stroke care and health inequities. Ismália earned her Bachelor’s Degree (with honours) in Nursing from Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa (Portugal) and a Master’s Degree in Advanced Practice Neuroscience Care from King’s College London (United Kingdom). Ismália’s extensive experience as a Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Specialist in stroke in the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London, UK), contributed to the development of her strong clinical and advanced nursing practice foundations and her knowledge about stroke systems and processes of care. Ismália has a track leadership record in various regional and national groups. She was a committee member of the Royal College of Nursing Neuroscience Forum and led the development of the first Career Framework for Stroke Nurses in the United Kingdom. Ismália also represented represented stroke nurses in the National Intercollegiate Stroke Working Party group and served as co-chair of the National Senior Nurse Endovascular group. In 2021, Ismália served as a member of the British Columbia Stroke Standard Development Committee, a group developing the first Stroke Quality Standards in British Columbia. Ismália is an editorial board member of the British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, the only journal for Neuroscience Nurses in the United Kingdom, and a board director of the After Stroke British Columbia. She is one of the co-founders of the Coalition of African, Caribbean and Black Nurses in British Columbia and serves as an advisory member in local and national committees focused on Equity, Diversity, Justice and Belonging.