Yale Department of Neurology receives grant for stroke study

September 11, 2019

Yale’s Department of Neurology is one of seven medical institutions awarded $4 million from the National Institutes of Health to assess acute ischemic stroke treatments in rodent models. As a part of the Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN), participating institutions will work together to increase the rigor surrounding testing for ischemic brain injury, taking a look at six neuroprotective therapies to improve outcomes after stroke.

Dr. Lauren H. Sansing will head a Yale team that will conduct research on the effectiveness of stroke treatments, including the immunomodulatory drug fingolimod. The Yale interdisciplinary team includes Drs. Jaime Grutzendler, Jiangbing Zhou, Kevin Sheth, Charles Matouk, Charles Dela Cruz, and Fahmeed Hyder.

Earlier tests failed to produce positive results for therapies meant to protect the brain after stroke. According to experts, recent efforts suggest that, in combination with recent advances in clot removal, it is time to expand possible treatments. SPAN seeks to model multi-site clinical trials by testing the six potential new treatments for stroke in different labs, in the hope that the best treatments emerge from rigorous testing.

Ultimately, by identifying the best treatments for patients in clinical trials, practitioners aim to be able to provide treatments to restore blood flow and to protect the brain in order to help stroke patients.