16 May 17. Award to Prof Wardlaw

Congratulations Professor Wardlaw

Professor Joanna Wardlaw (Professor of Applied Neuroimaging and Honorary Consultant Neuroradiologist, University of Edinburgh) has been honoured with the Presidential Award, at the European Stroke Conference on 16-18 May 2017, in Prague.  It is wonderful that Joanna's contribution to stroke research and associated small vessel diseases, has received such international recognition - congratulations!

ESO Presidential Award 2017

The European Stroke Organisation (ESO) Presidential Award is presented annually at the ESO Conference. The Presidential Award is bestowed upon an advanced career person who has made a significant impact on stroke care internationally over many years, someone who has had an important influence on educational or political development for stroke care across Europe or even worldwide. The achievement thus need not be research based but may involve leadership, mentorship, implementation or changing of attitudes.

During the ceremony, members heard how Joanna Wardlaw is a true leader in the field. She initiated one of the first randomised controlled trials of intra-arterial thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke in 1990, and has published and regularly updated the Cochrane Collaboration Systematic Review of available evidence on thrombolysis in ischaemic stroke since 1992.

She has worked on many multicentre randomised clinical trials as imaging lead, steering committee member or UK lead (IST-3, ENOS, PODCAST, Novartis Octreotide trials, SITS-MOST and MAST-Italy). Joanna has led UK NIHR-commissioned projects on cost effective use of diagnostic imaging in stroke treatment and prevention, whose results have been cited in stroke care guidelines worldwide, thereby having impact on patient care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receiving the award

Professor Wardlaw said

This award is for all the people who have ever worked together with me to improve the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular disease. Such improvements rely on collaboration and contributions from many many people, especially those at risk of, or who have already suffered, from stroke and its other effects on the brain. It is a great honour to receive the award.”

Professor Wardlaw

In 1997, Joanna Wardlaw established the Brain Research Imaging Centre at the University of Edinburgh, and is now a Director of their Edinburgh Imaging Facilities, as well as being part of the SINAPSE Collaboration, a joint effort of the major Universities across Scotland.

More recently, Joanna developed a research programme into the causes and effects of small vessel disease (SVD) on the brain, in particular the role of blood brain barrier (BBB) failure with ageing and its relationship with lacunar stroke and dementia. This has resulted in several high profile publications most recently Neuroimaging Standards for Small Vessel Disease and its contribution to ageing and neurodegeneration (STRIVE) published in the Lancet Neurology 2013.  She is currently working on several neuroimaging projects at present, including a collaborative study with 8 other UK universities funded by the Stroke Association, Alzheimer’s Society &  the British Heart Foundation and she looks forward to Edinburgh Imaging leading the imaging research for  the SVD projects funded by the Fondation Leducq and UK Dementia Research Initiative. 

Joanna has published more than 550 papers including in high impact journals, which have attracted in excess of 13,000 citations.

Past ESO Presidential Award Recipients

Past ESO Presidential Award recipients include: 2016: Prof. Heinrich Mattle (CH), Chairman of the Department of Neurology, University of Berne, Chief of Neurological outpatient service, Neurovascular Laboratory and Stroke Unit, Inselspital, Berne. 2015: Prof. Marie-Germaine Bousser (FR), Head of the Neurology Service at Lariboisière Hospital, member of Inserm team U740 and Professor of Neurology at the Denis Diderot University.