Bart Demaerschalk MD, MSc, FRCPC

Dr. Bart Demaerschalk is a renowned leader in stroke, emergency neurology, and digital health care who has been influential in establishing the use of telemedicine for numerous medical specialties around the world.

He is Atria’s Chief Digital Health Officer and Director of Vascular Brain Health and previously spent 25 years at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Demaerschalk joined the Mayo Clinic staff in 2001, serving as a Professor in the Department of Neurology, Associate Chair of the Neurology Department, Chair of the Cerebrovascular Diseases Division, Founding Director of Telestroke, and Medical Director of Video Telemedicine, Digital Health Research, and of Mayo Clinic’s Enterprise Telestroke Network, which delivers stroke care to medically underserved and rural communities.

Dr. Demaerschalk first discovered a love for medicine by studying cell and molecular biology as an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia, where he also earned his MD. During medical school, he was drawn to neuroscience because the department allowed him to work simultaneously with research scientists and clinical neurologists from early in his training. “One of my end goals was to have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a human being,” Dr. Demaerschalk recalls, “and what better organ to study for that than the brain?”

He then completed his residency in neurology and a vascular neurology fellowship at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Demaerschalk also received a degree in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and health research methodology from McMaster University and received postgraduate instruction in health professional education at the University of Toronto.

In addition to his dedication to advancing the treatment of neurological diseases, Dr. Demaerschalk loves to teach. Originally inspired by watching his father, a university professor, interact with students, Dr. Demaerschalk has carried this desire to help others understand complex material through all parts of his career—teaching medical trainees, patients, and now peers as a leader in health care.