Gillian Mead

Professor of Stroke and Elderly Care Medicine

Ageing and Health
Usher Institute
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

Usher Institute

Biography

Background

Professor Mead MB BChir MA MD FRCPE, FESO, FRSE, FMedSci

Professor Mead graduated from University of Cambridge in 1987. She trained in general and geriatric medicine in London and Liverpool. Her research training was at University of Manchester, where she performed a trial of carotid endarterectomy in acute stroke, and was awarded an MD (University of Cambridge) in 1996. She completed her clinical training in Edinburgh in 1999. After a six month senior lecturer post in stroke and general medicine in Auckland, New Zealand, she returned to Edinburgh as a clinical academic in 2000. She was promoted to Reader in Geriatric Medicine in 2009 and awarded a personal Chair in 2012.

Research

Research summary

Stroke is the major cause of severe adult disability. Professor Mead’s research focuses on how to improve recovery and quality of life of people who survive a stroke. She employs a variety of research designs, including systematic reviews, observational studies, qualitative research methodology and randomised controlled clinical trials. She co-led the FOCUS Trial (Fluoxetine or control Under Supervision), published in Lancet in 2019.

She has been awarded multiple prizes for her work including William Farr Medal, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London in 2016, and The Lady Illingworth Award from Tenovus Scotland in 2020.

Her H index is 67 (January 2023). She co-leads Cochrane Stroke (until April 2023). She co-leads the World Stroke Organisation guideline committee. She sits on the editorial board of Stroke. She is President of British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians (until December 2023).