Turning back time:
Dr. Stephen Phillips helps reverse the devastating effects of stroke
Dr. Stephen Phillips believes that with every answer, comes more questions. As a neurologist and professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie Medical School, he has been answering questions about the effects of stroke for more than 20 years. “Stroke can be devastating and is distressingly common,” says Dr. Phillips. “Our work focuses on minimizing the impact of stroke on people’s lives.”
Dr. Phillips and a team of colleagues explore better ways to prevent and treat stroke. They also work to bring research findings to the frontline of health care more efficiently and successfully – an often arduous process that can take many years. “We are trying to prevent strokes from occurring, reduce brain damage when one does occur, and help people make better recoveries,” says Dr. Phillips.
His work includes clinical trials to test the latest drugs and study how rehabilitation helps people regain abilities after a stroke: “More knowledge in these areas will have a major impact in Nova Scotia, in Canada and around the world.”
Dr. Phillips’ efforts to reduce the impact of stroke extend to how stroke care should be delivered in hospitals. He is leading the charge to reform stroke care in Nova Scotia and across the country, through his involvement in the Canadian Stroke Strategy.
“Studies have shown that when care is delivered by coordinated interdisciplinary teams working in geographically defined units, patients are more likely to survive and recover more fully,” Dr. Phillips explains. “If we move more in this direction and apply what we learn from our research, the impact of stroke on people’s lives will be reduced.”