The Maitland-raised neurologist is part of a Hunter Medical Research Institute group leading the State when it comes to stroke research and he was named last year as the Hunter region’s leading early career health and medical researcher for 2007.

Not bad for a man who only settled on a career in medicine during his final years of schooling.

“I don’t think many young kids really dream of becoming a neurologist but in the end it was what I wanted to do,” Dr Parsons, a former player with the Maitland Pumpkin Pickers, said.

“And it’s very exciting because really we only know about one per cent of what the brain can do . . . neurology is like the final frontier of medicine.”

Through his research, Dr Parsons is exploring how brain imaging can be used to improve patient selection for clot dissolving treatments. These treatments can reduce a stroke patient’s level of disability and lead to a quicker recovery when administered after a stroke.

Dr Parsons’ work as a leading researcher may be a far cry from his previous life as an East Maitland Public School and Maitland Boys’ High School student but his loyalty to the area still remains strong.

“We couldn’t do the work we do without the financial support and donations from members of the community and the people of Maitland have been particularly generous,” Dr Parsons said.

“For example East Maitland Lions Club gave us some money that we used for our research into recovery after stroke and the Stroud Rodeo donated some money in 2004 to help us out with work into clot dissolving treatments.

“The more money that comes our way the more research we can do. Having a stroke is quite common so obviously we want to do as much as we can to help as many people as possible.”

Dr Parsons’ work has been made possible through a record $475,000 in grants and prizes in corporate and community donations.