Sandra Black

Sandra E. Black, MD, F.R.C.P.(C) is a Professor in the Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Head of the Division of Neurology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is Medical Director of the Regional Stroke Program and also directs the Cognitive Neurology Research Unit. Dr. Black is a Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook and at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and a member of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Black obtained her medical and neurological training at the University of Toronto and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Western Ontario in Behavioural Neurology and Stroke prior to taking up her full-time appointment at Sunnybrook in 1985. She also studied history and philosophy of science at Oxford University.

Dr. Black has had continuous peer-reviewed funding since 1986. Her research has focussed on the cognitive sequelae of stroke and stroke recovery, the differential diagnosis of dementia, and the use of neuro-imaging techniques to elucidate brain-behaviour relationships in stroke and dementia. With funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research, she is currently conducting a prospective study on the utility of quantitative structural and functional imaging in diagnosis and monitoring of Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular and other dementias. She also conducts collaborative research on sensorimotor recovery after stroke using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and on praxis and attention in stroke and dementia. She is completing a clinical trial of the efficacy of amphetamine in facilitating sensorimotor stroke recovery using fMRI to monitor brain reorganization. She has over 140 publications and has been actively engaged in treatment trials for Stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular Dementia.