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Dr. Rachel Forman is a stroke neurologist at Yale School of Medicine. She treats stroke, researches it, and takes that knowledge into communities through Stamp Out Stroke -- sixty-plus events and counting. She recommends this podcast to her patients.

In this conversation: blood pressure and why most people do not know they have a problem until something goes wrong. Why only one in five stroke survivors check their blood pressure correctly. The discharge cliff. Secondary stroke prevention and why finding the cause of your first stroke changes everything. Post-stroke depression as a clinical condition that worsens outcomes. The mental health gap for survivors with aphasia. Equity in stroke research and care. And the Smart Cookie: the one thing Dr. Forman would change about stroke care right now.

Brain Friends: the podcast Every episode delivers stroke and aphasia science you can actually use. Hosted by Angie Cauthorn -- stroke survivor, aphasia advocate, and founder of ROSA, Resource Orientation for Stroke and Aphasia.

Health education only. Not personal medical advice. Mental health crisis support: call or text 988.

Stamp Out Stroke -- Yale Stroke and Vascular Neurology https://medicine.yale.edu/neurology/excellence/stampoutstroke/

AHA Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Guidelines https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/understanding-blood-pressure-readings/monitoring-your-blood-pressure-at-home

Find a Validated Blood Pressure Monitor https://www.validatebp.org

SEQUINS -- Society for Equity Neuroscience https://www.s-equi-ns.org/

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 https://988lifeline.org

National Aphasia Synergy -- Peer Befriending Program Founded and led by people with aphasia. Trish Hambridge, info@nationalaphasiasynergy.org

https://aphasiaadvocates.com/ for Brain Friends Merch

https://aphasia.org/event/ask-the-expert-february-2026/

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. ...

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Two world-class researchers walked into this conversation because of one woman. They did not have to. They chose to.

Dr. Peter Turkeltaub is a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center. MD. PhD. He directs the Cognitive Recovery Lab, where his research focuses on the neural mechanisms of language recovery after stroke. He is Dr. Seles friend and co-author Dr. Charles Ellis Jr. holds a PhD and CCC-SLP certification and is a professor at the University of Florida, one of the most recognized authorities on equity in communication sciences in the country. He was her mentor. Neither of them does podcasts. Both of them showed up. First time on this mic.

The paper is published in Aphasiology, the field's flagship peer-reviewed journal. Open access. Free. No paywall. That was a deliberate choice, and it was completely consistent with who Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson was.

She was a neuroscientist and a speech-language pathologist simultaneously. That combination is rare. It is exactly why nobody else was going to write this paper. Eight concrete action points for SLPs working with Black stroke survivors with aphasia. Not aspirations. A clinical blueprint. Built from evidence and from the understanding that Black patients carry a specific history into every clinical encounter that changes what good care actually requires.

Stroke does not see color. But your doctor does.

Black patients face higher stroke incidence, earlier onset, greater severity, and lower rates of sustained rehabilitation. That is documented. That is structural. Dr. Seles Gadson named eight ways to change it. Dr. Ellis extends the framework live, adding a ninth point on the spot. The paper is already generating scholarship.

This is not a tribute episode dressed up as science. This is science. The tribute is that she finished it.

This is the blueprint

Paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2025.2561681

Open access. Free. Search her name.

https://aphasiaadvocates.com/ for Brain Friends Merch

https://aphasia.org/event/ask-the-expert-february-2026/

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. ...

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A stroke can feel like a lightning strike on the brain’s power grid—which is why the new 2026 AHA/ASA acute ischemic stroke guidelines focus on speed, clarity, and better systems at every step. We sit down with the chair of the writing group, Dr. Sean Pabakaron, to translate cutting-edge research into actions families, clinicians, and first responders can take right now. No jargon, no fluff—just the signals to watch, the questions to ask, and the processes that save brain.

We unpack what changed since the 2018–2019 updates and why more than 50 new trials reshaped the playbook for pre-hospital screening, ER imaging timelines, thrombolysis decision-making, and routing to thrombectomy-capable centers. You’ll learn how tools like FAST and the Cincinnati scale help paramedics identify strokes in the field, why regions now sometimes bypass closer hospitals, and how door-in, door-out time became a critical quality metric for transfers. Inside the ED, we outline the ideal sequence from stroke alert to scan within 25 minutes, to mixing tenecteplase or alteplase, to rapid consults for clot retrieval—because earlier treatment within extended windows still yields better outcomes.

We also spotlight a major breakthrough: meaningful guidance for pediatric stroke. Kids present differently, the data are thinner, and the stakes are high. Dr. Prabhakaran explains when thrombolysis and thrombectomy can be considered in expert centers and how causes shift from congenital factors to post-viral arteriopathy or trauma as children age. We close with practical prevention: midlife blood pressure control, access to primary care, and the simple steps that protect cognition and reduce stroke risk over decades.

If stroke touches your life—as a survivor, caregiver, clinician, or advocate—this conversation gives you a clear map for a faster, safer response. Listen, share with your circle, and help us spread actionable stroke knowledge. If you find this valuable, follow the show, leave a rating, and tell a friend who needs a smarter plan for brain health.

https://aphasiaadvocates.com/ for Brain Friends Merch

https://aphasia.org/event/ask-the-expert-february-2026/

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. ...