Stroke Prevention Research
Dr. J. David Spence
&
Dr. Daniel Hackam
Dr. J. David Spence
J. David Spence, MD, FRCPC, FAHA
During Dr. Spence's training with Dr. Henry Barnett (one of the greatest Neurologists of his time, and an early pioneer of stroke prevention), he saw more than 1,000 patients with stroke, of which half were due to high blood pressure. Realizing that those strokes were preventable inspired him to dedicate his career to stroke prevention. After his training in Neurology and Internal Medicine at the University of Western Ontario in London, he then went on to a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at University of California, San Francisco. On his return to London, he established the first Hypertension Clinic in this part of North America in 1977, and the Hypertension Research Unit at Victoria Hospital in London.
In 1980 he established a Stroke Prevention Clinic, and then in 1985 the clinics were merged to form the Atherosclerosis Prevention Clinic. We began measuring carotid plaque area in 1992, 2D the beginning, and then went on in 1994 to work with Dr. Aaron Fenster on measurement of 3-D plaque volume.
In order to work more closely with Dr. Fenster and the Stroke Team at University Hospital, the team moved to the Robarts Research Institute, and SPARC was opened, in October, 1995.
At SPARC, a team of 10 researchers (Our Team) and more than 6,000 patients and research volunteers are dedicated to discovering better ways to prevent strokes and heart attacks. The basis of this work is the measurement of carotid atherosclerosis by ultrasound, and strong collaborations with researchers at the Robarts Research Institute and elsewhere.