The Charles G. Drake Clinical Fellowship in Neurovascular Therapy

"Dr. John Hunter, a surgeon in London England, is considered the father of experimental surgery. Dr. Hunter, who lived and worked in the 1700s, was one of Dr. Drake’s heroes. Some years back we opened a small neurovascular laboratory dedicated to learning and research on the 10th floor of University Hospital. In Dr. Drake’s and Dr. Hunter’s honour, we named the laboratory the “Drake-Hunterian.”

One of Dr. Hunter’s most renowned experiments had to do with the antlers on stags. He saw that the antlers of stags fall off and he wondered if they fell off because the carotid artery stopped the blood supply. He ligated one and it grew cold and stopped growing and he hypothesized that it would fall off sooner. A week later, to his surprise the antler was warm and had resumed growing. At autopsy he discovered that his ligature had not slipped, but small arteries above and below had mysteriously enlarged.

From this single observation Dr. Hunter deduced the principle of collateral circulation. Under this principle, the smaller tributary arteries under the “stimulus of necessity” take the functions of the larger artery.

It has been our pleasure to work with all of the Drake fellows who have come to Western over the years. Among those coming with a neurosurgery background, we believe the fellowship has realized Dr. Drake’s vision that neurosurgeons have something to contribute to the intricacies of catheter work in brain blood vessels. The popularity of the Drake fellowship seems only to have increased over the years, which is most gratifying. Fellows have come from (and returned to) as far away places as: Cuba, Australia, Spain, the United States....and Thunder Bay!

We look forward to working with many more Drake fellows and continuing the work that helped make London and Dr. Charles Drake internationally known.”

- Dr. Stephen Lownie and Dr. David Pelz