Rebuilding lives after stroke: Global opportunities for research

This session is chaired by Michaela Gilarova MSc and Ki Tong MA, both PhD students from the Advanced Care Research Centre at the Usher Institute.

13.20 | Priorities for Life after Stroke Research: The Stroke Association perspective

Juliet Bouverie, OBE, Chief Executive of the Stroke Association

13.40 | Systematic reviews and their crucial underpinning role in Life after Stroke research

Professor Alex Todhunter-Brown, Professor of Evidence Synthesis, Glasgow Caledonian University and Co-lead of NESSIE (NIHR Evidence Synthesis Scotland Initiative), Usher Institute

14.00 | Geriatricians and Life after Stroke Research

Professor Susan Shenkin, MD Professor of Healthcare for Older People, Usher Institute

14.20 | Implementation of evidence into practice: exercise training after stroke

Professor Frederike van Wijck PhD Professor in Neurological Rehabilitation Sciences and Co-director of Research Centre for Health, Glasgow Caledonian University

14.40 | Interactive Discussion

Chaired by Professor Gillian Mead, FMedSci, Professor of Stroke and Elderly Care Medicine, Usher Institute

Juliet has been Chief Executive of the Stroke Association since June 2016. She leads a team of 800 staff, 1500 volunteers and an annual income budget of around £42m.

Juliet co-chairs NHS England’s Stroke Delivery Programme Board and is a member of the NHS Assembly. She is a World Stroke Organisation Fellow and former Board member. She is also Chair of the Richmond Group of Charities which exists to influence policy and systems change for people with multiple long-term conditions.  

Juliet has a degree in Modern Languages in Oxford and a postgraduate diploma in management. She ran the London Marathon for the Stroke Association in April 2019. 

The Stroke Association is the only charity in the UK providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families. The charity provides tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year, funds vital scientific research, and campaigns to secure the best care and support for everyone affected by stroke.

Visit the Stroke Association website for further information

Alex is Professor of Evidence Synthesis at Glasgow Caledonian University. Alex has particular expertise relating to systematic reviews of complex interventions, leading methodological work, completing and supporting systematic reviews on a number of topics, including stroke.

She is Co-Lead of the Cochrane Heart, Stroke and Circulation Thematic Group, and was previously a Co-ordinating editor with the Cochrane Stroke Group. Alex has over 150 publications, an h-index (Scopus) of 48, and is cited as being in the top 2% of scientists in her discipline. She Co-leads the NIHR Evidence Synthesis Scotland InitiativE (NESSIE), which conducts evidence syntheses for the UK NIHR Evidence Synthesis Programme.

Alex has an active interest in active and meaningful public involvement in research, with a particular focus on involvement in evidence syntheses. She is a founding member and joint lead of the Cochrane Co-production Methods Group.

This session is chaired by Dr Amanda Barugh PhD (Clinical Director, Stroke and Medicine of Elderly, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh) and James Beeston MChem (PhD student, The University of Edinburgh)

15.30 | Life after stroke research in Nepal; developing international research partnerships

Dr Jiban Karaki, PhD Research Associate, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Director of PHASE Nepal

15.50 | Trial methodology for global Life after Stroke Research (including platform and implementation trials)

Professor Amanda Farrin, Director Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit, Usher Institute

16.10 | Implementation research and digital interventions for stroke in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMIC)

Professor Ayeesha Kamran Karmal, Professor of Neurology and Director of Stroke Services, Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan

16.30 | Life after stroke research: the World Stroke Organisation perspective

Professor Craig Anderson, Senior Professorial Fellow, Professor Neurology and Epidemiology, UNSW, Sydney, Australia, and President-Elect World Stroke Organisation

16.50 | Interactive Discussion

Chaired by Professor David Weller, James Mackenzie Professor of General Practice, Usher Institute

James is a second year PhD student in the Chemistry Department at the University of Edinburgh, working with Dr Andres Garcia-Dominguez and Professor Guy Lloyd-Jones.

He is working to uncover mechanistic detail around reactions of sulfur-containing substrates with phosphorus-containing reagents, which have applications within materials chemistry, biomass derivatisation and natural product synthesis.

Previously, James completed an integrated Masters of Chemistry degree at Durham University with a year in industry at Lubrizol, Derbyshire working on novel additives for engine oils.