Wellcome trust funds MMU-IRM research into strokes

Dr Mark Slevin of the IRM Research Institute’s Angiogenesis and Vascular Biology Research Group has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship to research new treatments for stroke, the third leading cause of death in Europe after heart disease and cancer.

Mark, who is a leading expert in stroke and heart disease, says: “Strokes cause over 1.4 million deaths each year and are the major cause of adult physical disability in Europe where it is approximately 60% more common than in the whole of North America.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by 2020 heart disease and stroke will become the leading causes of death and disability affecting over 20 million people per year.”

Current treatments for stroke are generally considered unsatisfactory, and Mark’s four-year project aims to identify the potential therapeutic benefits of a novel signalling protein, Cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (CDK5), which is expressed by brain cells and in particular blood vessels following ischaemic stroke. The study will lead to a clearer understanding of the cellular function of CDK5 in non-neural cells and its potential therapeutic implications in relation to promotion of tissue survival by optimising new blood vessel growth.

Dr Slevin adds: “We are delighted with the Wellcome Trust award. I have no doubt that with support from MMU and our collaborators in the UK and Europe/USA, we can make significant progress in our understanding of the importance of angiogenesis in determination of tissue reperfusion and recovery of patients from stroke.”

In June of this year, Dr Slevin was the only non-American selected by the BBVA Foundation to one of its first Biomedicine Chairs for his research project at St Pau Hospital, Barcelona. The BBVA Foundation scheme seeks to “promote world-class research by Spanish teams by facilitating the temporary attachment of world researchers with a distinguished record.

For further information contact Dr Mark Slevin:
m.a.slevin@mmu.ac.uk, country code 44 + (0)161 247 1172