Prof Joanna Wardlaw (UK DRI at Edinburgh) is setting up the first phase III trial in cerebral small vessel disease aimed at improving cognitive symptoms. Motivated to find an accessible treatment for this neglected condition, the world-leading clinician scientist is working to repurpose two drugs already licensed to treat heart and circulatory diseases.
This article is part of our ‘Deliver’ series, showcasing the UK DRI's mission to discover the causes of neurodegeneration, develop possible treatments and deliver solutions for healthy ageing.
Back in the 1990s, when a person suffered a stroke, it was believed that part of the brain was lost immediately and there was absolutely nothing medicine could do. In fact, these people were transported in a slow ambulance to hospital, where there was no treatment.
It was while completing her medical training a decade earlier, that Prof Joanna Wardlaw became interested in neurological diseases like stroke, focusing her studies on medical imaging inspired by innovations at that time. She wanted to make a difference to patients and, having read a medical report about a person being treated with intra-arterial clot busting drugs, set about establishing her own trial with this class of treatment