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Bradford Institute for Health Research

Celebrating 36 years of world-class Ageing and Stroke Research at the Bradford Institute for Health Research

By 28th November 2023No Comments

This month, the Ageing and Stroke Research (ASR) unit, at the Bradford Institute for Health Research, celebrates 36 years of commitment, innovation, and perseverance in conducting world-class research to improve the health and care of older people and survivors of stroke.

Photo of Anne Forster and John Holden 36 years ago

Prof John Young and Prof Anne Forster

In 1987 Professor John Young and Professor Anne Forster, founders of Academic Unit for Ageing and Stroke Research (ASR), conducted their first research study together at Bradford Teaching Hospitals!

From a small team of two, the ASR is now home to 38 members of staff and students, with 27 active projects and over £26m active research grant awards.

Key achievements from our Ageing and Stroke research include:

  • National implementation of the electronic Frailty index, which supported the assessment of frailty for over 1 million older people in the UK
  • Our validated LUNS tool to identify longer term unmet needs after stroke, and Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) tool have been translated into different languages and used internationally.
  • We conducted two of the world’s largest stroke rehabilitation trials
  • 400+ publications – currently lead on five Cochrane reviews
  • Establishment of large Frailty Cohort with over 1700 registered participants
  • Professor Anne Forster was awarded the prestigious NIHR Senior Investigator award
Photo of Anne Forster and John Young current

Dr John Green, Prof Anne Forster and Prof John Young

Over the years the ASR has brought together healthcare providers, service users, members of the public, academics, commissioners and many more, to develop and implement meaningful research to address the real needs of the population. We are pleased to see our research findings have been able to inform changes to national policies and to services.

We would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the achievements and to thank everybody who have contributed to making our research happen. With 36 years of success and hundreds of completed research projects, the ASR continues to grow and maintain its leading role in ageing and stroke research.

To find out more about the ASR, check out their website here: https://ageingstrokeresearch.org/