SPIRIT Conference – Madison Beach Hotel,
October 30, 2024
The SPIRIT StrokeNet Conference was held on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at the Madison Beach Hotel in Madison, Conn. More than 60 SPIRIT StrokeNet trial investigators, fellows, coordinators, and other colleagues gathered from the SPIRIT institutions of Hartford Healthcare, Northwell Health, Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital, and Yale to learn and connect! Sessions covered:
Mentoring and career development
Updates from national StrokeNet trial PIs
Ideas about the future of stroke research and treatments based on translational research and biomarkers
The latest AHA Guidelines on intracerebral hemorrhage
Topics for research collaboration from SPIRIT colleagues
Overviews about the background and status of trials proposed to StrokeNet by SPIRIT colleagues.
Thank you to Adam de Havenon, MD (Yale), and Shadi Yaghi, MD (Brown), for acting as co-chairs to arrange such a successful cross section of speakers and ideas! A huge thank you as well to all the speakers for planning such interesting presentations and to everyone for joining us to enjoy the day at the Long Island Sound!
(Pictured left to right, the Mentoring and Career Development Panel: Karen Furie, MD (Brown), James Giles, MD, PhD (Yale), Richa Sharma, MD, PhD (Yale), Hardik Amin, MD (Hartford), Mark Alberts, MD (Hartford), and Walter Kernan, MD (Yale)).
(Pictured left to right, from Hartford: William Roman, Liz Roper, Laura Grenier and Reena Patel) .
(Pictured left to right, meeting co-chairs: Dr. Adam de Havenon (Yale) and Dr. Shadi Yaghi (Brown)).
(Neeharika Krothapalli, MD (Yale)).
(Pictured left to right: SPIRIT StrokeNet Fellow Liqi Shu, MD (Brown), and Farhan Khan, MD (Brown)).
(Pictured left to right, Kelly Matmati, MD (Hartford/St. Vincent’s), and Daniel Sarpong, PhD (Yale)).
(Helaina Lehrer, MD (Northwell)).
(Daniyal Asad, MD (Hartford)).
(Northwell team members).
(Yale team members).
KUDOS
I-ACQUIRE Trial Completes Enrollment: The I-ACQUIRE (Perinatal Arterial Stroke: A Multi-Site RCT of Intensive Infant Rehabilitation) trial completed enrollment with its full sample of 216 children and their families on October 9, 2024. The Yale site (Site PI Laura Ment, MD, Lead Coordinator Wadzanayi Mayiseni and Primary Coordinator Michael Kampp) with the assistance of Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (Betty Vohr, MD) and Rhode Island Hospital (Anna Albuja, MD) randomized 12 participants. Other key contributors to the site’s success were therapists Alesia DiSano (Rhode Island), Jessie Fontenault (Rhode Island), and Melissa Knickerbocker (Yale) who provided the Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), blinded assessor Stephanie Moffatt (Rhode Island) and coordinator Steven Knapp (Rhode Island), in addition to many other current and former colleagues.
Sicklick Receives Award: Congratulations to Alyse Sicklick, MD, medical director, inpatient rehabilitation at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, and a stroke rehab partner with Yale Neurology, for receiving the Women’s Excellence in Healthcare Award from the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce on November 6, 2024.
PI & Coordinator Spotlight: PI James Giles and Coordinators Remillard, Kitagawa and Kampp
The Yale CAPTIVA and SISTER teams finished 2024 strong! Within a three-day span in early November, they enrolled their second patient into SISTER and their fifth and sixth patients into CAPTIVA – a trifecta! The Site PI for these trials is Dr. James Giles, with lead CAPTIVA Coordinator Will Remillard, lead SISTER Coordinator Rachel Kitagawa, and Primary Coordinator Michael Kampp. Congratulations to them and everyone who took part!
(Pictured left to right: Dr. James Giles, Will Remillard, Rachel Kitagawa and Michael Kampp).
Announcements
Shufan Huo, MD, PhD, has been selected as the 2025-2026 SPIRIT StrokeNet fellow. Keep reading in the section below to find out more about her plans!
SISTER is open to enrollment at Rhode Island Hospital as of November 4, 2024! The Site PI at Rhode Island is Farhan Khan, MD, and the Coordinator is Alexis DeMarco. Good luck with future enrollments!
Khatri to Join SPIRIT RCC – Pooja Khatri, MD, has been selected as the new chair in the Department of Neurology at Yale University beginning April 1, 2025 and will be joining the SPIRIT RCC! Dr. Khatri will maintain a leadership role within the StrokeNet National Coordinating Center (NCC) and keep a volunteer faculty role in the Department of Neurology at the University of Cincinnati. Congratulations and welcome to Pooja!
StrokeNet at ISC – For those of you attending the International Stroke Conference (ISC), there will be a StrokeNet social hour at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. - 9 p.m. They will provide light appetizers and a cash bar. Stop by and catch up with StrokeNet and SPIRIT RCC colleagues!
Change of Guard – There is a new Site PI for SATURN at Rhode Island Hospital! Christoph Stretz, MD, is now leading the team. A big thanks for all the efforts of the former Site PI, Ali Mahta, MD!
Coordinators and managers mark your calendars for the quarterly 2025 SPIRIT StrokeNet coordinator/manager meetings, scheduled for these dates at 11:00 a.m.:
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
SPIRIT StrokeNet Fellow Selected for 2025-2026
Shufan Huo, MD, PhD, from Yale School of Medicine was selected as the 2025-2026 SPIRIT StrokeNet fellow. Dr. Huo will dissect the polygenic (characteristics involving multiple genetic locations) mechanisms of action in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) by integrating a multiomic framework (genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data) to reveal key molecular targets and pathways to advance drug repurposing and development. In particular, she is hoping to identify the key proteins mediating the polygenic risk of CSVD that can be used as novel druggable targets, with extension to lacunar stroke and vascular dementia, the most detrimental manifestations of CSVD.
Aim 1: Use mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to repurpose known CSVD candidate drugs.
Aim 2: Integrate genomic and proteomic data to agnostically approach novel CSVD drug target discovery.
Aim 3: Explore identified drug targets for lacunar stroke and vascular dementia (VCID).
The 2025-2026 Fellowship will begin July 1, 2025.
Trial Shout Outs!
October 2024: Rhode Island Hospital (Site PI Ali Mahta, MD, and Coordinator Alexis DeMarco) was tied for 9th place for SATURN site enrollments (SATURN Newsletter, Q4, 2024, Issue 20). Impressive!
October 2024: Rhode Island Hospital (Site PI Ali Mahta, MD, and Coordinator Alexis DeMarco) continued its SATURN success with an enrollment in October! This patient also enrolled in SATURN-MRI.
November 2024: Yale New Haven Hospital had an ASPIRE enrollment in November (Site PI Guido Falcone, MD, ScD, and Lead Coordinator Wadzanayi Mayiseni) (ASPIRE Newsletter, November 29, 2024, Vol. 5, Issue 11).
November 2024: There was a SISTER enrollment at Yale New Haven Hospital (their 2nd) on November 5, 2024 (Site PI James Giles, MD, PhD, and Lead Coordinator Rachel Kitagawa) (SISTER Newsletter, November 18, 2024, Vol. 2, Issue 8).
November 2024: Rhode Island Hospital (Site PI Farhan Khan, MD, and Lead Coordinator Alexis DeMarco) was released to enroll for SISTER on November 11, 2024 (SISTER Newsletter, November 18, 2024, Vol. 2, Issue 8).
November 2024: Hartford Hospital (Site PI Yan Hou, MD, PhD, and Lead Coordinator Reena Patel) and Yale New Haven Hospital (Site PI Guido Falcone, MD, ScD, and Lead Coordinator Wadzanayi Mayiseni) each enrolled a patient into both SATURN and SATURN-MRI.
December 2024: Give a round of applause to these sites for enrolling CAPTIVA subjects since the last newsletter (NIH StrokeNet First Friday Update, December 6, 2024). Keep it up!
Hartford Hospital – 1 (Site PI Ajay Tunguturi, MD, and Coordinator Laura Grenier).
North Shore University Hospital – 1 (Site PI Rohan Arora, MD, and Coordinator Ayesha Rehman).
Yale New Haven Hospital – 2 (Site PI James Giles, MD, PhD, and Lead Coordinator Will Remillard).
December 2024: Rhode Island Hospital (Site PI Christoph Stretz, MD, and Coordinator Alexis DeMarco) enrolled the 13th patient for their site in December!
Team Effort Ensures SISTER Enrollment
Yale randomized its second SISTER patient on November 5, 2024 with the aid of multiple departments. As stated by Site PI Dr. James Giles, “Absolutely outstanding! Special thanks to Will Remillard, the on-call coordinator, and Drs. Neeharika Krothapalli, Charles Wira and Charles Matouk. This patient was a 4:00 a.m. telestroke transfer so a lot of teams involved – very smooth once they arrived at Yale. Thanks to everyone’s efforts.” Dr. Krothapalli is a neurology stroke fellow, Dr. Wira is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Matouk is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, and Will is a postgraduate associate on the neurology core team that works on inpatient trials.
(Pictured left to right, back: Charles Wira, MD, Neeharika Krothapalli, MD, and Will Remillard).
For its prior enrollment, Yale received a trophy in October, pictured below with Site PI Dr. James Giles and Yale coordinators, for the first SISTER trial enrollment and first use of the novel drug, TS23, in stroke patients (SISTER Newsletter, November 18, 2024, Vol. 2, Issue 8).
(Yale SISTER Site PI Dr. James Giles with coordinators).
Clinical Trial Enrollment Updates,
as of January 10, 2025
I-ACQUIRE - (Consented = 12; Randomized = 12)
Yale - 9 consented, 9 randomized
Rhode Island - 3 consented, 3 randomized
SATURN - (Randomized = 32)
Hartford - 10
Staten Island - 2
Rhode Island - 13
Yale - 7
SATURN-MRI - (Randomized = 16)
Hartford - 6
Staten Island - 1
Rhode Island - 5
Yale - 4
FASTEST - (Randomized = 0)
North Shore - 0
SISTER - (Randomized = 2)
Yale - 2
Sleep SMART - (Consents = 261; Randomized = 86)
Hartford Hospital - 45 consented, 25 randomized
North Shore - 156 consented, 42 randomized
Staten Island - 10 consented, 2 randomized
Yale - 50 consented, 17 randomized
ASPIRE - (Consents = 45; Randomized = 26)
Hartford - 3 consented, 1 randomized
North Shore - 10 consented, 7 randomized
Rhode Island - 5 consented, 3 randomized
Yale - 27 consented, 15 randomized
CAPTIVA - (Randomized = 38) and CAPTIVA-MRI (Randomized = 2)
Hartford - 5
North Shore - 22; and CAPTIVA-MRI - 2
Rhode Island - 5
Yale - 6
SPIRIT RCC Total Enrollments by Sites,
October 14, 2024 – January 10, 2025, N=15
(since the last SPIRIT newsletter issue)
2024 SPIRIT RCC Total Enrollments by Sites,
January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024, N=58
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