The NIH Stroke Scale Training DVD, produced by the Office of Communications and Public Liaison at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), has won a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award. The CINE Golden Eagle awards, distinguishing excellence in professional and amateur works, are recognized internationally as symbols of the highest production standards in filmmaking and videography. CINE has, since its founding in 1957, been dedicated to discovering, rewarding, educating, and supporting established and emerging talent in film and video. Among great talents whose first major awards included the CINE Golden Eagle are Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and such great documentarians as Ken Burns, Charles Guggenheim, Stanley Nelson, and Frederick Wiseman.

In the fall 2004 competition, more than 300 judges viewed and evaluated hundreds of distinguished entries. Experienced professionals in the field of film and video production, as well as subject matter experts, served in a volunteer capacity. They judged the entries using standards of overall excellence, evaluating such criteria as writing, sound, editing, creativity, visuals, insights, and the extent to which the film meets its stated goals and communicates with its intended audience.

The NIH Stroke Scale Training DVD is an interactive tool that teaches medical professionals how to administer and score the NIH Stroke Scale, a measure of stroke severity, in a clinical setting with stroke patients. The studio-produced footage provides clear views of doctors performing the scale and illustrates every score on each item of the scale. The DVD was designed to allow the viewer to easily stop and start, repeat, and move between sections as needed. The DVD includes 2 demonstration cases that allow viewers to self test; and 3 sets of patients for certification, which allows health care professionals to become accredited in the use of the scale. The two-disc set also includes commentary and tips from national stroke experts.

Since the DVD’s release, thousands of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals have learned how to administer the NIH Stroke Scale. The NINDS partnered with the American Stroke Association to put the DVD footage online, so that medical professionals could have website access to the training.

NINDS staff recruited a faculty of experts to help with the design and structure of the training tool, to take advantage of the latest technology, and to ensure a user-friendly product. Faculty for the DVD were: Dr. Patrick Lyden, director of the Stroke Team at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD); Dr. John Marler, Associate Director for Clinical Trials, NINDS; Dr. Thomas F. Zimmerman, President of Health Ventures; Marian Emr, Director of Communications and Public Liaison, NINDS; and Margo Warren, Chief, Public Liaison Section, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, NINDS.

The Video Production Unit of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide was responsible for shooting and editing the production.

All of the location shooting was done on the UCSD campus. Dr. Lyden served as the primary narrator and instructor on the DVD training. Thirty-one stroke patients and dozens of their family members volunteered to participate in the filming.

CINE conducts two competitions each year; the current one began in August 2004. For those who win the Golden Eagle Awards, CINE has established two additional levels of competitive awards. The Special Jury Award recognizes the best films in the 26 CINE Golden Eagle categories. The CINE Master Series Awards (for the Professional Division winners) and the CINE Award of Excellence (for the Student and Adult Amateur Division winner) recognize the best of the best in the CINE competitions. The 2005 Master Series Awards and Awards of Excellence will be presented at the Annual CINE Awards Ceremony, to be held in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2005.

The NINDS, a part of the National Institutes of Health, is the nation’s primary supporter of biomedical research on the brain and nervous system and provides information to the public and patients. More information is available at the NINDS website, www.ninds.nih.gov.

This release will be posted on EurekAlert! at http://www.eurekalert.org and on the NINDS website at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/index.htm.