Perugia, Italy is famous for its chocolate – but it’s also where some of the world’s most prominent young researchers gathered recently to discuss the future of stroke prevention, treatment and support.
“There’s hundreds of applications around the globe, and they interview quite a number… so I felt very lucky to be selected,” says Dr Laura Jolliffe, Allied Health Research & Knowledge Lead, who is a participant in the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Future Leaders Program.
“It’s an amazing group of incredible people who are all working to provide equitable stroke care across a number of countries,” she says.
The two year mentorship program supports early career researchers in their active stroke research. In addition to online workshops, the program highlight is a face-to-face retreat, which took place in Perugia in April. The retreat is an opportunity for participants and mentors to meet, and commence the program’s funded projects.
“[The mentors] are very generous with their advice about how to support career growth and facilitating connections for future leaders with the other researchers globally,” says Dr Jolliffe. “The research interests of the stroke leaders span from hyper acute care, through to life after stroke, so we’re very lucky to learn from them.”
Dr Jolliffe is involved in two projects through the WSO Future Leaders Program. The first is looking into the stroke rehabilitation interventions provided to people in an inpatient setting in low-income countries, such as India and Brazil.
The second project is researching patient reported outcome measures, and how clinicians use those measures in their decision making for stroke care.
Dr Jolliffe says that meeting colleagues face-to-face in Perugia was a valuable and unforgettable experience. In addition to the research sessions, participants also experienced a guided walking tour that included tasting local foods, and cooking lessons at the culinary university.
“We established rapport quite quickly because we had known about each other, but it was very lovely meeting in person because you get to find out a bit more about people,” Dr Jolliffe explains. “You’re not having to raise your hand to say something.”
The online workshops for program participants are run by external experts, on topics such as how to how to communicate and pitch your research ideas, how to get your research published, and even “shark tank” workshops where participants pitch their group projects to the “sharks”.
However, due to most participants being based in the Northern Hemisphere, the time zones can present some challenges for Dr Jolliffe.
“For me, [the online workshop] is typically in the early hours of the morning. So I’m never at my finest,” she smiles. “One AM until 4AM is usually our workshop time, and they’re always very valuable.”
The WSO Future Leaders Program’s funded projects will conclude with the presentation of results at the World Stroke Congress 2026.
