Bahir Dar University and teaching hospital, serving seven million people, had no neurologist on staff. UTSW and BDU faculty began collaborating to strengthen neurology education and improve stroke care.

Seed funding established the Global Neurology elective at UTSW and supported the first research and education program BORNE (Bahir Dar Outreach for Neurology Education) initiative in Ethiopia led by Dr. Mehari Gebreyohanns.
Dr. Gebreyohanns also developed the first Amharic term for stroke and launched Amharic-language stroke and hypertension education.

A 21 person, multidisciplinary UT Southwestern faculty team traveled to Bahir Dar University (BDU) for the BORNE Symposium and Workshop.
The team, composed of faculty from Neurology, PM&R, Family Medicine, School of Health Professions, Pediatric Neurology, OBI, fellows, college students from the Dallas area; conducted multiple educational forums and hands on workshops on EEG testing, physical rehabilitation, and autism screening.
In October 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by UTSW and BDU to further strengthen the relationship between the two institutions.

The success of the BORNE Symposium inspires collaboration between stroke experts across institutions to launch the African Stroke Organization Conference (ASOC).

ASOC hosted its inaugural conference virtually, connecting stroke experts and researchers across Africa to a global audience.

The success of the first conference and growing cross-institutional collaboration propelled ASOC to host its second virtual conference.

ASOC moved to a hybrid format, bringing participants together online and in person at Ibadan, Nigeria.
A Landmark Achievement Bahir Dar became the first public hospital in Ethiopia to offer thrombolytic stroke therapy and one of the World Stroke Organization's first pilot stroke units in Africa, through the leadership of Dr. Mehari Gebreyohanns and collaboration between UTSW and Bahir Dar University.

The conference continued to expand its reach through its hybrid model, meeting in person in Lusaka, Zambia.

Attendance, scientific collaboration, and regional participation continued to grow. Conference hosted in Nairobi, Kenya.

ASOC returns to Ethiopia, where the inspiration originated, with the 2026 conference set for November 1–4 in Addis Ababa.
Today, ASOC is Africa's leading scientific stroke conference, with nearly 1,000 attendees, almost 200 scientific presentations, and 27 travel scholarships awarded to early-career African researchers.