Professor Jesse Dawson
Professor of Stroke Medicine, University of Glasgow
Professor Terry Quinn
Professor in Cardiovascular Ageing, University of Glasgow
There have been major advances in the treatment of stroke. Drugs and procedures administered in the first hours following a stroke can be life-saving and life-changing.
Stroke (an interruption of the blood supply to the brain) is a devastating condition and the most common cause of death and disability in the world.
Improving life after stroke
Stroke research has tended to focus on these precious first hours, but for stroke survivors, there is a whole life after the initial stroke. This area has been traditionally under-researched; there are many unanswered questions around longer-term stroke recovery.
Professors Jesse Dawson and Terry Quinn, both doctors and researchers from University of Glasgow, are working to improve life after stroke. They work together but focus their activities on different aspects of stroke recovery.
Reviving movement post-stroke
Prof Dawson is passionate about improving the movement and function that can be taken away by stroke. His research has used medications, robots and devices. He was part of the team that first showed how electronic nerve stimulation, alongside physical therapy, can restore strength and dexterity in stroke survivors, even years post-stroke. His research is giving hope to the many people left with long-term physical issues following stroke.
One in five stroke survivors are living
with dementia, and there is a
one-in three chance that a stroke survivor
will experience major depression.
Brain health and stroke
Prof Quinn and his team have an interest in the memory, thinking and mood problems that can follow a stroke. Although conditions like stroke, dementia and depression are all ‘brain diseases,’ clinical practice and research have tended to treat them separately.
Prof Quinn’s work shows that the conditions are closely linked. For example, one in five stroke survivors are living with dementia, and there is a one-in-three chance that a stroke survivor will experience major depression. Having identified the overlap, potential treatments that could be useful for all three conditions are in development.
Supporting stroke recovery
Stroke recovery is too big an issue for one (or two) researchers to tackle alone. Professors Dawson and Quinn proudly partner with stroke teams across Europe and beyond. The European Stroke Organisation (ESO) is the voice of stroke clinicians and researchers across Europe. ESO are working on several issues related to life after stroke, for example, by supporting the Stroke Action Plan for Europe.
Both professors play important parts in ESO; Prof Dawson is treasurer and member of the executive committee, while Prof Quinn chairs the production of clinical Guidelines. Through this triple-helix of research, clinical practice and international policy, we can look forward to continuously improving life after stroke.
