Major funding awarded to establish Australia’s first young stroke service

A collaborative $10M project led out of the Florey Institute has been funded by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund to bring faster, personalised clinical care and longer-term support for young people with stroke. The five-year project, led by Professors Julie Bernhardt and Vincent Thijs, co-heads of the stroke research theme at the Florey Institute, will deliver Australia’s first young stroke service. 

Approx. a quarter of all strokes in Australia are experienced by people aged between 18 and 45 years old. Young people who experience stroke are frequently underdiagnosed and underserved in the Australian healthcare system due to critical gaps in the current stroke care pathway.

Stroke is profoundly disruptive for a young person’s identity, productivity, relationships, and emotional wellbeing. 

What are some of the gaps that you have experienced in support services?

Community and research partners including Stroke Foundation, Curve Tomorrow, Centre for Digital Transformation of Health, University of Melbourne, Flinders University, Monash University, Latrobe University, University of Technology Sydney, Austin and Melbourne Health and the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR), will be integral to the project’s success.