Welcome to new Princess Margaret Research Development Fellows

All three researchers have been awarded prestigious Princess Margaret Research Development Fellowships. This innovative programme for researcher development has been funded by the Stroke Association and the Scottish Funding Council.

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Princess Margaret Research Development Fellowships help aspiring clinical academics to develop deliverable research questions. The fellows will then be in a strong position to apply for competitive research training fellowships from major funders like the UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

Dr Yvonne Chun graduated from Imperial College in 2007 and has since worked in London and the Southwest of England. Her clinical experience as a specialist registrar in Geriatric and Stroke Medicine led to a strong desire to improve the life of stroke survivors through clinical research and an interest in the neuropsychiatric consequences of stroke. Yvonne will address the issues around anxiety after stroke and the need for a better primary outcome measure suitable for use in large clinical trials.

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Dr Catherine Humphreys studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, and has since specialised in histopathology. For her fellowship, Cat will investigate the pathophysiology of human small vessel disease, a common cause of stroke and cognitive decline. She will investigate the underlying mechanisms of the disease and genetic features that may underlie its susceptibility. After completion of her PhD, Cat aims to complete her specialty training in neuropathology and become an academic neuropathologist.

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Dr Gordon Blair is returning to research after spending the last three years working in the NHS. Having done a BSc in neuroscience, and with previous experience assessing the clinical features of people with epilepsy, Gordon is set on integrating a strong academic component into his career in neurology and stroke medicine. For his fellowship, he will focus on the role of impaired vascular reactivity and inflammation in cerebral small vessel disease and lacunar stroke. Using advanced MRI techniques, he aims to discover more about the pathophysiology of small vessel disease, and establish markers against which candidate drugs could be assessed in clinical trials.

Edinburgh University provides an excellent academic environment to combine human neuropathological and neuroradiological studies, translating existing local animal model expertise. The Princess Margaret Development Fellowship allows me an excellent opportunity to pursue stroke research, and to help secure a PhD Clinical Research Fellowship.

Dr Catherine Humphreys

The Stroke Winter School, which is part of the programme, helps young researchers define research questions; choose the best design; and present to potential funders and collaborators.

For further information, contact Dr William Whiteley or Prof Martin Dennis.