Why does stroke research need more funding?

Stroke is sudden, unexpected and can happen to anyone, at any age. It’s the UK’s fourth biggest killer, with around 40,000 people dying of stroke each year – that’s a life lost every 13 minutes.

The latest figures suggest that levels of research funding equal £48 for every stroke patient in the UK, compared to £241 per person living with cancer and £118 per person living with dementia.

We need your support to continue to invest in research that will help to save lives and enable stroke survivors to make the best possible recovery. 

Research priorities

In 2015 we launched our Priority Programme Awards, in which we identified areas of unmet need in stroke research and funded the most promising research projects, and identified three key areas:

• Haemorrhagic stroke: about 15% of all strokes are caused by a brain bleed and very little has happened over the years to treat these bleeds and change the story of those affected in the future.  
• Psychological effects of stroke: the hidden effects of stroke have also received little attention when it comes to funding. People continue to suffer without the treatment, support, and acknowledgement that could be brought about by research.
• Vascular dementia: few know that people with stroke are more likely to develop vascular dementia, the second most common cause of dementia in the UK. 

The difference our research makes

• In the early 1990s, thrombolysis wasn’t routine care in the UK. We helped fund the research which got the treatment licensed in Europe, with the establishment of thrombolysis services across the UK.
• From 1996, we began funding a series of grants which led to findings that have significantly improved our understanding of TIAs, and why urgent treatment is necessary. This included the research which showed that the seven-day risk of having a stroke after TIA is about one in 12.
• In 2004, we funded the research which showed that paramedics could use the FAST test just as well as doctors to diagnose a stroke. This led to the creation of the FAST campaign for better awareness of the most common symptoms of stroke.
• We funded PISTE, the only clinical trial of mechanical thrombectomy to remove clots that cause strokes in the UK. In 2015, the findings from PISTE supported those of other international trials and showed that it's possible to deliver thrombectomy in an NHS setting. In 2017, NHS England announced that it will commission mechanical thrombectomy so it can become more widely available to stroke patients in the UK.
• Donate to change the story for stroke survivors and help us continue investing in vital research.
• Read more about the impact of our research.

How much do we spend on research?

Over the last 25 years, we've spent over £50 million on stroke research and funded more than 500 research grants.

Whilst most of our funding has gone toward funding research projects, about a third of our funding has been invested in the careers of people. Investing in exceptional stroke researchers is key to building capacity for high-quality stroke research.

More recently, in the financial year 2015-2016, we spent over £3.6 million in total on vital stroke research. 

Who and what we fund

You'll find lots of information on our research programmes on our looking for funding page.

Read more