Over the past 15 years, Prof Chris Levi has established one of Australia’s leading stroke research groups. His overarching research vision has been the translation of experimental stroke therapies into the clinical domain. This builds on a career objective to provide health care professionals with greater knowledge, better tools and more effective strategies to treat and prevent stroke. A key attribute has been his focus on developing research ideas and directions that are ‘grounded’ in clinical relevance. This focus and determination has led to his appointment as Director, Clinical Research and Translation for the Hunter New England Local Health District.