About

Ismália De Sousa, MSc BSN RN

(She/Her/Hers)

Doctoral Candidate at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Areas of interest: stroke care; stroke survivorship; health inequities; healthcare service and healthcare system delivery; critical philosophies, theories and perspectives in equity-oriented research; community-engaged research; integrated knowledge mobilization/implementation science; critical pedagogies.

Ismália De Sousa is a Doctoral Candidate in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia (UBC), under the supervision of Dr. Sally Thorne, Dr. Sandra Lauck and Dr. Thalia Field. She is a recipient of the 2023 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada/Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Brain Canada Personnel Award for Black Scholars. She is one of the 2024 World Stroke Organization Future Stroke Leaders.

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 Advanced Practice Nurse 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, knowledge of stroke systems and processes of care and the complexities of the care for people diagnosed with stroke. As an Advanced Practice Nurse in Nurse, Ismália’s role included the advanced assessment and management of care of people presenting with a suspected or confirmed stroke, advice about secondary stroke prevention and health promotion strategies for patients, families and caregivers. Ismália was also involved in improving clinical outcomes and patient experience through quality and safety improvement and stroke service development initiatives in collaboration with other healthcare providers. She developed and implemented stroke-specific educational programs for nurses and allied healthcare professionals. Her understanding of the stroke survivorship experience was augmented by her role as a key stroke clinician accessible to patients throughout the stroke care continuum and her role overseeing a monthly stroke support group and stroke program for people with living experience of stroke, their family members and caregivers.

Ismália has a leadership track record in various regional and national groups. From 2015 to 2020, she served as a member of the Royal College of Nursing Neuroscience Forum Steering Committee and spearheaded the development of the Career Framework for Stroke Nurses in the United Kingdom. Ismália also represented stroke nurses in the National Intercollegiate Stroke Working Party group chaired by Prof. Anthony Rudd (2017 – 2019) and co-chaired the National Senior Nurse Thrombectomy group (2018 – 2019) in the United Kingdom. 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. She is currently a member of the British Columbia Stroke Services Executive Steering Committee.

Ismália was one of the co-founders of the Coalition of African, Caribbean and Black Nurses in British Columbia and served as its President (2023-2024). She was a board director of the Stroke Recovery Association of BC (2020-2025), the Chair of the Communications & Marketing Committee in the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nurses (2021-2024) and an editorial board member of the British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing (2016-2025). At present, Ismália serves as an advisory member in local and national committees focused on Equity, Diversity, Justice and Belonging in non-profit and academic settings.