Dr Joanne Knight
Joanne joined The Stroke Association in May 2003 as Director of Research and Development.
The Stroke Association is the only national charity solely funding stroke research and Joanne is responsible for the distribution of The Stroke Association’s £2.2 million annual expenditure on stroke research, as well as encouraging other funding bodies to support stroke research.
Joanne explained what her role involves, “As the Director of Research and Development it is really important that I ensure that The Stroke Association funds research in hospitals and universities of the highest quality, which will effectively meet the needs of stroke survivors and their carers.
We have recently revised the organisation’s Research and Development Strategy, and one of the key changes in the new strategy is the increased involvement of stroke survivors and carers in our Research and Development activities. This will ensure that we are supporting the right research projects to provide maximum benefit to stroke survivors and carers.
It is an exciting time to be involved with stroke research. Following the launch of the new Government initiative, the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, which includes a specific Stroke Research Network, there are lots of changes taking place in the research community. These changes will ensure research supported by The Stroke Association helps develop new treatments and preventative methods as quickly as possible.”
Joanne graduated from the University of Oxford with a doctorate in Chemistry. She started her career in the pharmaceutical industry, before moving into the management of medical research funding within the charity sector in 2000.
