Ralph Ross Russell: pioneer of stroke medicine and astute diagnostician

bmj;392/mar20_2/s520/FAF1faRalph Ross Russell—or R3, as he was affectionately known—became a neurologist at a time when strokes were not deemed worthy of academic attention. He was one of the first to make study of the condition into a research and clinical specialty, paving the way for better understanding and care, and playing a pivotal role in turning the treatment of stroke into the medical success story that it often is today.From the outset of his career Ross Russell was at the forefront of academic research in neurology. His first senior position was as a research scholar and lecturer in medicine in Oxford under George Pickering, regius professor of medicine, at the time of much debate on the nature of hypertension and when vasospasm as the cause of transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) was being challenged. Ross Russell’s research focused on the mechanism of hypertension and its role in cerebrovascular disease, research he...