Congratulations to our Bradford Worrall, MD, for receiving a prestigious Fulbright American Distinguished Chair Award for 2017. The award will let Dr. Worrall, a neurologist, work at the University of Newcastle in Australia to improve the stroke tools available to doctors and researchers.
“The essential question is, ‘What kind of stroke is it?’ and the answer has implications for treatment, prevention and prognosis in the clinical arena and may hold the key to improved understanding of the underlying biology in research,” he said. “Better knowledge means better and novel treatments.”
He recalls the day he got the news of his award: “I was floored. Even the notion of applying had seemed like such a wild hair,” he said. “I knew about the post-graduate Fulbright program but was not familiar with these incredible opportunities for other stages in one’s career. I can truly say the process of applying proved to be very enjoyable — even including the Skype interview. I was grateful to have participated. The day that I learned that I had been selected will remain indelible in my memory.”
His selection reflects highly on both him and UVA’s stroke program. “We could not be more excited about this tremendous honor for Dr. Worrall,” said Karen Johnston, MD, associate vice president for clinical and translational research. “The Department of Neurology has been focusing on obtaining new perspectives to allow for creative growth. Dr. Worrall is leading our team in thinking outside of the box about how to collaborate nationally and internationally. He is an inspiration — not only as a scientist and an educator but as a leader who models for us all the opportunities to really engage in true collaboration. We can’t wait to continue to learn from him when he returns to UVA.”