University Hospitals Joins Regional Partners in Celebrating Five Year StrokeNet Renewal

Innovations in Neurology & Neurosurgery | Fall 2023

The University Hospitals Neurological Institute will continue its participation in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) StrokeNet research network after a competitive process to secure a third five-year funding cycle.

University Hospitals is a member of the Cleveland Stroke Clinical Trials Regional Coordinating Center (RCC), one of 27 StrokeNet regional centers encompassing over 200 partner hospitals nationwide. Continually funded since 2013, the RCC is based out of Case Western Reserve University and is a collaboration of University Hospitals, the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland VA, MetroHealth, Akron General, OhioHealth (Columbus, Ohio), Mercy Health-St. Vincent (Toledo, Ohio), University of West Virginia (Morgantown, West Virginia), Corewell Health (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and Allegheny Health (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).The National Institutes of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) developed NIH StrokeNet to provide the necessary infrastructure to conduct ongoing, high-quality stroke research. The RCC is working to advance stroke medicine in three key areas: prevention, acute intervention and rehabilitation.

“We are honored to be one of only 27 regional centers in the U.S. selected to receive this federal designation through a competitive application,” says Cathy Sila, MD, Chair of Neurology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Academic Chair at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “I am proud of our regional team of dedicated clinicians and researchers who have received this honor. As a stroke neurologist at University Hospitals, I rely on StrokeNet’s clinical trials to provide my patients access to the most innovative and highest-quality care.”

The RCC is led by co-principal investigators Sophia Sundararajan, MD, PhD, Director of the Clinical Trials Unit within the UH Neurological Institute, and Ken Uchino, MD, a stroke neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “Historically, stroke trials sometimes took 10 years to complete, rendering many of the findings obsolete,” says Dr. Sundararajan, who is also Program Director of UH Vascular Neurology and a Professor at School of Medicine. “StrokeNet has put administrative mechanisms in place to ensure that we are able to run stroke research within timeframes that would have been unrealistic in the past.”

Because of StrokeNet, transformational research such as the DEFUSE 2 trial of endovascular reperfusion has changed the standard of care for stroke. RCC members have proposed trials conducted through the network, including University Hospitals’ participation in the CAPTIVA MRI trial that compares anti-coagulation and anti-platelet therapies for intracranial vascular atherosclerosis. “The effort we put into our regional coordinating group is rewarding,” says David Haney, Director of Research Operations for the UH Neurological Institute and StrokeNet Manager. “As a result, outcomes are improving for stroke patients.”

Additionally, the initiative is helping fund the next generation of stroke researchers. “Each year, our center awards a training grant to a researcher within the field who has a project they would like to pursue,” says Haney, who sits on the national board for StrokeNet’s education core and hosts monthly coordinator calls through the National Coordinating Center based at the University of Cincinnati.

Past award recipients from RCC sites have included residents, Ph.Ds., postdocs and a physical therapist. Most of these researchers have gone on to develop their own laboratories and secure independent NIH funding. StrokeNet also supports education and career development for stroke study coordinators.

As a StrokeNet site, the RCC collaborates on a national level and ensures that Cleveland and its regional partners are at the forefront of leading stroke research and innovation. Additional hub institutions include Columbia University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Stanford University and Yale University.

“StrokeNet has provided a great opportunity to have this kind of cooperation between multiple sites within our regional coordinating center and also allows us access to the greater stroke community of physicians nationally,” says Dr. Sundararajan. “We communicate regularly with the other regional coordinating centers, and our participation has enabled us to improve the treatment of stroke — not only here in Cleveland, but throughout the United States.”

For more information, please contact Dr. Sundararajan at Sophia.Sundararajan@UHhospitals.org or David Haney at David.Haney@UHhospitals.org.

Contributing Experts:
Cathy Sila, MD
Gilbert W Humphrey Endowed Chair of Neurology
University Hospitals Neurological Institute
Inaugural Distinguished Senior Attending Physician
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Academic Chair
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Sophia Sundararajan, MD, PhD
Director, Clinical Trials Unit
Program Director, Vascular Neurology
University Hospitals Neurological Institute
Distinguished Senior Attending Physician, University Hospitals
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Professor
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

David Haney
Research Operations Manager
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Case Western Reserve University