Ten grants totalling $1 million awarded to support the future of clinical stroke research

The new program provides vital seed funding through Brain Canada, Heart & Stroke, and Canadian Stroke Consortium partnership

2023-04-25

(Press-News.org) Brain Canada, Heart & Stroke, and the Canadian Stroke Consortium are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 Stroke Clinical Research Catalyst Grants. The purpose of this program is to increase capacity for clinical stroke research within Canada, with an aim to reduce the burden of stroke, prevent recurrence, and improve patient outcomes through clinical research that will improve our understanding of stroke and advance stroke care.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with two leading organizations in stroke research to ultimately drive discovery,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. “These ten investigators are contributing to improved care along the continuum of stroke which could transform the lives of many people impacted by stroke in Canada.”

“The Canadian Stroke Consortium is committed to reducing the burden of stroke through fostering quality clinical research and translating our learnings into patient care,” notes Dr. Andrew Demchuk, Chair of the Canadian Stroke Consortium. “On behalf of our members, we are delighted to support the important work of these ten researchers. Their efforts will contribute to enhancing the lives of Canadians experiencing stroke.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to provide ten leading stroke researchers with the initial seed funding they need to develop new lines of research and to generate preliminary data,” says Doug Roth, CEO of Heart & Stroke. “The goal is that this initial investment will support successful applications to larger grants to further advance stroke health.”

The ten projects receiving $100,000 grants from Brain Canada, Heart & Stroke, and the Canadian Stroke Consortium include:

Dr. Sean Dukelow, University of Calgary – The TeleTaCAS Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial. Dr. Aravind Ganesh, University of Calgary – Development and testing of a system for remote ischemic conditioning in preparation for clinical trials in cerebral small vessel disease and pre-hospital stroke care. Dr. Raed Joundi, McMaster University – Incidence, Trends, Determinants, and Prognosis of Post-Stroke Dementia (INTREPID): A 20-year registry and population-based cohort study. Dr. Aristeidis Katsanos, McMaster University – blooD prEssure management in sTroke following EndovasCular Treatment (DETECT). Dr. Ethan MacDonald, University of Calgary – Developing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) based pH Mapping Tool for Clinical Stroke Assessment. Dr. Michelle Ploughman, Memorial University – Verifying aerobic training protocols to benefit both heart and brain in subacute stroke. Dr. Alexandre Poppe, Université de Montréal – A multi-centre, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint (PROBE) controlled trial comparing acute cervical internal carotid artery stenting to no stenting during endovascular thrombectomy for anterior circulation stroke due to acute tandem occlusion: Endovascular Acute Stroke Intervention – Tandem OCclusion trial (EASI-TOC). Dr. Deborah Siegal, University of Ottawa – Intensive Cancer Screening for Cryptogenic Stroke (INCOGNITO) Pilot Randomized Trial. Dr. Nishita Singh, University of Manitoba – Adaptive Platform Trial to Investigate VArious ThErapies in Carotid-Associated Stroke (ACTIVATE-CAS)- Pilot Phase. Dr. Luciano Sposato, Western University – STARGATE (Sweet spoT for cArdiac Rhythm monitorinG After sTrokE) Pilot Trial: A pilot-feasibility randomized controlled trial. This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Canadian Stroke Consortium. To date, Health Canada has invested over $155 million through the CBRF which has been matched by Brain Canada Foundation and its donors and partners.

About Brain Canada

Brain Canada plays a unique and invaluable role as a national convenor of those who support and advance brain research. A greater understanding of how the brain works contributes to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of disorders of the brain, ultimately improving the health outcomes of people in Canada and around the world. To learn more, visit Braincanada.ca @BrainCanada

About Heart & Stroke

Life. We don’t want you to miss it. That’s why Heart & Stroke has been leading the fight to beat heart disease and stroke for 70 years. We must generate the next medical breakthroughs, so Canadians don’t miss out on precious moments. Together, we are working to prevent disease, save lives and promote recovery through research, health promotion and public policy. Heartandstroke.ca @HeartandStroke

About Canadian Stroke Consortium

The Canadian Stroke Consortium is the national professional association for physicians interested in stroke. Our associate members are colleagues who represent other disciplines involved in stroke prevention and treatment. Together, we are committed to reducing the burden of stroke through the translation of clinical research into clinical practice. To learn more, visit strokeconsortium.ca.

For more information, please contact: 

Brielle Goulart

Brain Canada Foundation

brielle.goulart@braincanada.ca

450-915-2253

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Cartesian Therapeutics announces appointment of three world-renowned scientists and engineers as charter members of company's scientific advisory board

2023-04-25

Gaithersburg, MD; April 25, 2023 - Cartesian Therapeutics, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company pioneering RNA cell therapy for autoimmune diseases and cancer, today announced the appointment of three world-renowned scientists and engineers as charter members of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Prof. Jennifer Elisseeff (Johns Hopkins University), Prof. Andrés García (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Prof. David Mooney (Harvard University). “These distinguished research leaders bring vast ...

Study shows promising results for immunotherapy targeting skin cancer

2023-04-25

A new class of immunotherapy shows promising results for fighting the most aggressive form of skin cancer. The study, published today in Nature Communications by researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, investigates whether a novel antibody can target and treat melanomas. The results show that the antibody activates the immune response to fight cancer and slows melanoma growth in mice. Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer with poor ...

How do you define shyness? A new study analyzes shyness in children

2023-04-25

What is shyness? Research has shown that shyness is characterized by fear and nervousness in response to social novelty and/or social evaluation. Shyness can manifest on behavioral, affective, and physiological levels, but little is known about how these components cluster. Longstanding theories note that shyness may be conceptualized as a trait that is relatively stable across development, which is described as temperamental shyness. Shyness may also be conceptualized as an emotion that is felt in a certain social situation, which is described as state shyness. To ...

Q & A with Shanna van Trigt, Vrije Universiteit author of “Autistic Traits and Self-Conscious Emotions in Early Childhood” Child Development

2023-04-25

Research shows that given the difficulties in navigating social relationships, children with more autistic traits might be prone to less attuned self-conscious emotions after transgression (displaying less guilt and embarrassment and more shame). A new study released in Child Development by researchers at Vrije Universiteit and the University of Amsterdam investigated for the first time the association between autistic traits and self-conscious emotions of guilt, embarrassment, and shame in young children. Researchers also further examined ...

Better social drinkers don’t earn more

2023-04-25

Social drinking after work is traditionally seen as an important way to build relationships in East Asia. There’s sometimes even a fear that missing out could leave you on the back foot when climbing the career ladder. However, a joint paper looking at the drinking habits and economic situation of working men in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea has found that those who can drink more do not seem to have a financial leg-up over their alcohol-intolerant and less-drinking colleagues. As almost half of the population in East Asia has some intolerance to alcohol, and with the growth of the sober-curious lifestyle, this result may come as good news to those ...

Highly sensitive Raman probe detects enzyme expression in heterogeneous tissues

2023-04-25

Raman imaging offers a greater potential for detecting multiple enzyme activities than fluorescence imaging, demonstrate Tokyo Tech researchers by developing 9CN-rhodol-based activatable Raman probes using a novel mechanism for Raman signal activation. The strategy allows a synthesis of highly activatable Raman probes with high aggregation and multiplexing ability, making it a promising tool for extending the range of Raman probes for the detection of multiple enzyme activities in heterogeneous biological tissues. The involvement of enzymes in a wide range of biological activities makes them ideal biomarkers for the detection of diseases. In fact, ...

Investment in education in shrinking cities

2023-04-25

In Japan, many municipalities have suffered from population decline due to low birth rates and an aging population. In 2022, the Japanese population over the age of 65 was 36.21 million, accounting for 28.9% of the total population. In addition, approximately 1,300 shrinking cities are within the 1,700 municipalities in Japan. Moreover, the large number of shrinking cities in Japan is unprecedented on a global scale. As a response to the low birthrate, the Japanese government is discussing “unprecedented” measures to reverse the decline, such as ...

Study finds stool transplants more effective than antibiotics for treating recurring, life-threatening gut infections

2023-04-25

A new Cochrane Review led by an Upstate Medical University professor has found that, compared with standard antibiotic treatment, stool transplantation can increase the number of people recovering from Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection, a condition which causes potentially life-threatening diarrhea. 77 percent of people who received a stool transplant did not experience reinfection within eight weeks, compared to 40 percent of those who received antibiotics alone. C. diff is a bacterium that can cause life-threatening diarrheal illness in individuals ...

Poor air quality linked to cognitive problems in babies

2023-04-25

Poor air quality linked to cognitive problems in babies Poor air quality could be causing cognitive deficits in babies and toddlers, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study published today reveals an association between poor air quality in India and impaired cognition in infants under two. Without action, the negative impact on children’s long-term brain development could have consequences for life. Lead researcher Prof John Spencer, from UEA’s School of Psychology, said: “Prior work has shown that poor air quality is linked ...

Big Data research points out Omicron outbreak had lower mortality rates compared to previous strains of Covid-19

2023-04-25

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, a constant public fear was the rise of a new variant of the disease. Among the countless possibilities of a SARS-CoV-2 viral mutation, some were really alarming, such as Omicron, Delta, and Gamma. The strains with greater virulence and ability to invade the immune system are defined as variants of concern (VOCs), since they also have the potential to overwhelm the health system, increasing the number of admissions to intensive care units (UTIs). Recently published in the Intensive ...