Rate My Professor Rebecca Hood

Dr. Rebecca Hood is an Honorary Associate Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Human Physiology, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Honours), and Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences from the University of Newcastle. As a Greaves Family post-graduate scholar during her doctoral studies, her research investigated the mechanisms driving intracranial pressure elevation after ischaemic stroke, a blockage of an artery in the brain. Following her PhD, Dr. Hood pursued postdoctoral research in stroke recovery under Professors Rohan Walker and Michael Nilsson, exploring cerebrospinal fluid circulation, neurovascular unit recovery, amyloid beta accumulation, cognitive impairments, secondary neurodegeneration, blood-brain barrier alterations, neuroinflammation, and the microbiota-gut-brain axis post-stroke.

Since August 2018, Dr. Hood has held the position of TACTICS VR Project Manager in the Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle. Her research specializations lie in biomedical sciences-neuroscience, with keywords including cerebrospinal fluid, hypoxia, intracranial pressure, ischaemic stroke, and medical physiology. Fields of research comprise the central nervous system (75%) and medical biochemistry-proteins and peptides (25%). Notable publications include 'Intracranial pressure elevation post-stroke: Mechanisms and consequences' (2023, Frontiers in Stroke, co-authored with D.J. Beard et al.); 'Leakage beyond the primary lesion: A temporal analysis of cerebrovascular dysregulation at sites of hippocampal secondary neurodegeneration following cortical photothrombotic stroke' (2023, Journal of Neurochemistry, co-authored with R.J. Hood et al.); 'Development and Pilot Implementation of TACTICS VR: A Virtual Reality-Based Stroke Management Workflow Training Application and Training Framework' (2021, Frontiers in Neurology, co-authored with R.J. Hood et al.); and 'Ischemic penumbra as a trigger for intracranial pressure rise—A potential cause for collateral failure and infarct progression' (2016, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, co-authored with D.J. Beard et al.). These works contribute to advancing post-stroke pathophysiology understanding and stroke care innovations.