Dr Deirdre Lane, who is based in the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, has been awarded the prestigious William Cullen Prize by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
The award recognises Dr Lane’s research on stroke and bleeding risk in atrial fibrillation, and in the patient’s perceptions and understanding of the disease and its treatment. Dr Lane was presented with the prize at a presentation ceremony during the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh’s UK Conference in Birmingham on Wednesday 5 September.
Dr Lane has extensively published her research, and often gives talks to a variety of audiences at national and international level. The main emphasis of her work for over a decade has been atrial fibrillation, with two major themes: bleeding and stroke risk stratification and patient-centred research. But she has also contributed heavily to research on patient perceptions and understanding of disease and its treatment – an important topic, as chronic treatments may require lifestyle modification to be as successful as possible.
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh President, Professor Derek Bell, presented the award. He said: “The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has Fellows and Members all over the world, but this prize particularly recognises local or regional research excellence. Dr Lane deserves the Cullen Prize for her world class stroke research and patient perceptions. I have no doubt that Dr Lane’s work has been important in improving our understanding of bleeding and stroke risk stratification and patient-centred research - she’s a tremendous asset to the University of Birmingham.”
On receiving the William Cullen Prize, Dr Lane, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said: “I am delighted and extremely honoured to receive this prestigious award. Prevention of stroke is a subject very close to my heart and having the opportunity to conduct research that has helped to influence the management of atrial fibrillation, a major contributor to stroke, is a privilege.
“Understanding how patients adapt to chronic health conditions, such as atrial fibrillation and helping develop interventions and tools to improve patient outcomes and their experience of healthcare is extremely important to me.”