Stroke and COVID–19

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Moderated by Emmy Award-winning news anchor and journalist Carey Peña, this episode features stroke survivor Christopher Ewing and Dr. Mitchell Elkind, professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City.

Ewing shares his story and the concerns he and fellow stroke survivors in Southern California have about how COVID-19 may affect them.

Elkind addresses stroke survivors’ COVID-19-related health risks and how stroke survivors can reduce their risks and stay healthy during the pandemic.

Podcast Participants (in order of appearance)

Carey Peña (Moderator) Carey Peña is an Emmy Award-winning news anchor, host and investigative journalist. As founder and CEO of Inspired Media 360, she created her dream company at the intersection of tech and TV. Peña strives to inspire people through the stories IM360 covers, the shows and content her company creates, and the many charity events and other activities where she serves as master of ceremonies or volunteers her time.

Christopher Ewing (Stroke survivor)

Christopher Ewing is an Emmy Award-winning TV host and producer (“Hang On to the Dream”) and an actor on soap operas (“All My Children,” “One Life To Live”) and in numerous TV and radio commercials. He suffered a hemorrhagic stroke at his Hollywood television studio in 2018. After Ewing spent five days in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and nearly a month and a half at Cedars-Sinai’s rehabilitation hospital, his recovery was miraculous. And he has been educating the public about stroke since. He is the producer and host of the popular podcast “Life After Stroke,” and in 2019 he launched The Stroke Channel on Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Mitchell S.V. Elkind, M.D. (Neurologist and stroke expert)

Dr. Mitchell Elkind is a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University and chief of the Division of Neurology Clinical Outcomes Research and Population Sciences, or Neuro CORPS, in the Neurology Department. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, he trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia. Elkind has a long-standing commitment to education and volunteerism. In addition to leading Columbia’s neurology residency and fellowship programs, he served as editor of the Resident and Fellow Section of the journal Neurology. He also served as chair of the American Stroke Association Advisory Committee from 2016 to 2019 and is president-elect of the American Heart Association.