The
complexity of the brain with its potential and its connections to the rest of
the body. It is very interesting the pathophysiology of the neurological
diseases that we know so far.
2. Why stroke?
Because it
is a devastating disease with so many consequences and I think that I would
like to contribute in some way to its knowledge and to help patients with
stroke.
3. What have been the highs so far?
Fortunately
there have been several highs in the past years, more for ischaemic stroke like
the use of intravenous thrombolysis, the performance of decompressive
craniectomy for malignant infarction and recently the use of thrombectomy and
the organization of stroke units for all types of strokes.
4. What have been the lows?
The slow
progression in prevention, in decreasing the incidence of stroke and better
accessibility to neurorehabilitation, that also need to be improved, especially
in low income countries.
5. How do you balance work life with the
needs of home life?
It is always
a challenge, sometimes you have to make some sacrifices. At this moment I try
to work part time at the hospital and outpatient clinic, and also working on
night shifts, so I can share more time with my family, with full support from
my husband to work this way.
6. Who are your most important mentors and
how did you find them?
While I did
my fellowship in neurovascular and neurointensive care programme at the
Instituto de Neurocirugía Dr. Asenjo in Santiago, Chile, I met Dr. Pablo M.
Lavados, who is my mentor and he encourage me to do research in the stroke
field, and after some years he introduced me to Dr. Craig S. Anderson from The
George institute, Sydney, Australia, who taught me to simplify when is possible
the way to do research at patient level and the importance of pragmatic
clinical trials.
7. What are your most important
collaborations and how have you built them?
The most
important collaboration have been the Head Position and Stroke trial between
The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia and our stroke team
at Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Chile. Some years ago (2011) in Chile we
invited Dr. C.S. Anderson to a Conference and with my mentor we presented to
him the idea of the trial about the best position of the head in the acute
phase of stroke, and he supported the idea. We applied at a local level to get
funds to do a pilot study and together we also applied to a research grant from
the Australian MRC to do a phase 3, the main phase of the trial, which is
ongoing and will finish this year, to answer a simple but a relevant question.
This collaboration has meant a contribution also to our knowledge as a group
about conducting clinical trials in stroke at large scale.
