Ottawa stroke expert named to Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Antoine Hakim, a neurologist whose work has led to improved prevention and treatment of stroke in Canada, is among six medical heroes named to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. "I'm sort of floating," Hakim, 70, said in a phone interview from Brazil. "This is a terrific honour." Hakim heads the neuroscience program at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and is a professor of neurology at University of Ottawa. In 2000, he founded the Canadian Stroke Network, which brings together researchers, government and industry with the goal of reducing the burden of stroke on people and health care budgets. Hakim and his network team, with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, promoted the Canadian Stroke Strategy in 2005. That initiative transformed care across the country. Within five years, Ontario alone saw stroke patient admissions decrease by 11 per cent and referrals to stroke prevention clinics increase by 34 per cent