Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Stroke carries the greatest socioeconomic burden of disease in North America. In Canada, approximately 70 000 people have a new stroke each year. Presently, ~350 000 Canadians live with stroke related disabilities, which costs about $3.6 billion dollars. Stroke survivors are often left with long-lasting problems that alters their societal role and diminishes their quality of life. This places a huge burden on the survivor, their family and society. Thus, therapies that offer even small improvements in outcomes and/or increased independence could have a massive impact. The greatest problem to improving outcomes following a stroke is recovery of function. Unfortunately, we have a poor understanding of how individuals recover following a stroke. With this in mind, the present proposal has two objectives. The first objective is to identify how changes in the brain relate to recovery of function. We will make use of state-of the-art imaging techniques and cutting-edge robotics to understand how specific brain areas are associated with recovery in a monkey model of stroke. Our second objective is to try and improve recovery. Using a mixture of brain derived neurotrophic factors we hope to enhance recovery.