Anne-Mari Kantanen, Senior Specialist, works at the University of Eastern Finland as the Coordinator of Specialized Physician Training and the University Hospital of Kuopio as the Associate Chief Physician, Acute Neurology. Anne-Mari’s work includes patient work and administration. In addition, she is active in several research projects where she handles the recruitment of participants and directs academic theses. “My role is to act as a background force in research, “the voice of the clinician”, and to ensure the integration of research into the individual patient care process. In addition, I get to participate in the process of developing neurology specialist training”, Anne-Mari describes.     

Anne-Mari’s doctoral dissertation, completed in 2017, is an epidemiological study on intensive care status epilepticus in Finland. “Right now, there is a little time for my own academic research. Still status epilepticus and stroke research are of particular interest to me from the perspectives of developing treatment processes and treatment outcomes”, she describes. The main collaborators in the Kuopio Brain & Mind network are the Brain Research Unit of the University of Eastern Finland, research groups in the field of neurology and researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital.    

“Clinical research requires extensive knowledge. It involves a multidisciplinary team of professionals in close cooperation and in their respective roles. In the Kuopio University Hospital, everyday life includes both patient work and research. Both are needed and both require adequate resourcing”, Anne-Mari describes. 

Brain Research Unit, University of Eastern Finland: https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/brain-research-unit-clinical-drug-research/  

Research in neurology at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital: https://sites.uef.fi/neuro/research/