Prof Joanna Wardlaw

(She/Her)

Group Leader and Clinical Director of the CVDR

Causes, mechanisms, clinical features, diagnosis, consequences, outcomes and treatment of cerebral small vessel disease focusing on clinical studies.

Condition

Alzheimer's disease, Vascular dementia, Mild cognitive impairment

Topics

Vascular system, Ageing, Cell biology of neurons & glia, Molecular mechanisms, Biomarkers & diagnostics, Lifestyle & environment, Treatments & Interventions

Techniques

Advanced microscopy & imaging, Lipidomics, Mass spec-based proteomics, Mouse in vivo imaging, Drug screening, Experimental medicine, Fluid biomarkers, Human brain imaging, Metabolomics, Mouse behaviour, Single cell / nucleus transcriptomics, Software development, Statistical modelling, Viral-mediated expression

Biography

Medicine (Hons) Edinburgh; clinical academic; foundation chair UK DRI 2017.

Large research medical imaging facilities; training programmes; research into cerebrovascular disease and vascular causes of cognitive decline including small vessel disease.

Honours & awards

2016  Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

1998 Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh       (FRCP)

2005 Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences                     (FMedSci)

2008 Fellow of the European Society of Neuroradiology            (FESN)

2009 Fellow of the European Stroke Organisation                     (FESO)

2011 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh                         (FRSE)

2015 Fellow of the American Heart Association                        (FAHA)

2019 Fellow of the World Stroke Organisation                           (FWSO)

2025 Member of the Academia Europaea                                  (MAE)

2008  British Society of Neuroradiologists President’s Medal for Lifetime Achievement

2017   President’s Award, European Stroke Organisation, for lifetime contribution to stroke

2018   AHA/American Stroke Association Feinberg Award, for clinical advances in stroke,

2018   Karolinska Stroke Award for Lifetime Contribution to Stroke

2021   British Neuroscience Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience

2023   Biochemical Society - Sustained Excellence Award, 2024

2023   Association of British Neurologists Lord John Walton Memorial Lecture

2023   UK Stroke Forum Outstanding Achievement Award

2025   C Miller Fisher visiting Professorship, Massachussetts General Hospital/Harvard Med School

2025  Georges Marinescu Distinguished Lectureship, Romanian Neurological Society

News

Research interest

Small vessel disease; brain and vascular advanced MRI methods; vascular causes of dementia; cerebrovascular disease; clinical trials, reverse and forward translation.

Key publications

International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society
Published

Global burden of cerebral small vessel disease determined from large MRI studies - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors
Bonnie Yk Lam, Yuan Cai, Huijing Zheng, Jize Wei, Rufus Akinyemi, Geert Jan Biessels, Hilde van den Brink, Christopher Lh Chen, Marco Duering, Deborah Gustafson, Saima Hilal, Vincent Hui, Raj Kalaria, SangYun Kim, Maggie Li Man Lam, Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Ami Sm Li, Hugh Stephen Markus, Anna Marseglia, John O'brien, Leonardo Pantoni, Perminder S Sachdev, Eric Edward Smith, Joanna Wardlaw, Adrian Wong, Ho Ko, Vincent Ct Mok
Global burden of cerebral small vessel disease determined from large MRI studies - a systematic review and meta-analysis
European stroke journal
Published

Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030 (SAP-E): mid-term review and update

Authors
Hanne Christensen, Francesca Romana Pezzella, Melinda Berg Roaldsen, Aleš Tomek, Arlene Wilkie, Louisa Christensen, Martin Dichgans, Avril Drummond, Tiina Laatikainen, Carlos A Molina, Katharina S Sunnerhagen, Danilo Toni, Sonia Abilleira, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Anita Arsovska, Heinrich Audebert, Jelena Bartolovic, Yannick Béjot, Geert Jan Biessels, Juliet Bouverie, Hrvoje Budincevic, Barbara Casolla, Hugues Chabriat, Marina Charalambous, Jesse Dawson, Stephanie Debette, Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Adam Denes, Marina Diomedi, Diederik Dippel, Ulrich Dirnagl, Urs Fischer, Yuriy Flomin, Ana Catarina Fonseca, Birgitte Forchammer, Anne Forster, Giovanni Frisullo, Miquel Galofre, Zuzana Gdovinová, Christoph Gumbinger, Joseph Harbison, Richard Hobbs, Dalius Jatuzis, Hrvoje Jurlina, Mira Katan, Lisa Kidd, Stefan Kiechl, Janika Kõrv, Christina Kruuse, Wilfried Lang, Arthur Liesz, Svetlana Lorenzano, Andreas Luft, Grethe Lunde, Chris Macey, Hugh Stephan Markus, Gillian Mead, Patrik Michel, Serefnur Ozturk, Maurizio Paciaroni, Aleksandra Pavlovic, Carina U Persson, Terence J Quinn, Peter Rothwell, Luca Saba, Paola Santalucia, Gustavo Santo, Claus Simonsen, Thorsten Steiner, Katarzyna Stolarz-Skrzypek, Cristina Tiu, Alexander Tsiskaridze, Georgios Tsivgoulis, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Teresa Ulberg, Paolo Ursillo, Antonella Urso, Mia van Euler, Margus Viigimaa, Denis Vivien, Markus Wagner, Marion Walker, Alastair Webb, Diana Wong Ramos, Mauro Zampolini, Marialuisa Zedde, Gary Ford, Peter Kelly, Robert Mikulik, Bo Norrving, Hariklia Proios, Simona Sacco, Else Sandset, Joanna Wardlaw, Aleksandras Vilionskis, Valeria Caso
Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030 (SAP-E): mid-term review and update
European stroke journal
Published

Randomised, controlled Trial of CT perfusion and angiography compared to CT alone in thrombolysis-eligible acute ischaemic stroke patients: The penumbra and recanalisation acute computed tomography in ischaemic stroke evaluation (PRACTISE) trial

Authors
Keith W Muir, Salwa El Tawil, Alex McConnachie, Ian Ford, Grant Mair, Jattinder Khaira, Kausik Chatterjee, Laszlo Sztriha, Omid Halse, Ibrahim Balogun, Sanjeev Nayak, Phil White, Elizabeth A Warburton, Joanna Wardlaw
Randomised, controlled Trial of CT perfusion and angiography compared to CT alone in thrombolysis-eligible acute ischaemic stroke patients: The penumbra and recanalisation acute computed tomography in ischaemic stroke evaluation (PRACTISE) trial

Wardlaw lab

Explore the work of the Wardlaw lab focused on understanding how small vessel disease damages the brain and what we can do to prevent and treat it.

Wardlaw lab
Superintendent Radiographer Charlotte Jardine and colleague examines brain scans on a computer screen