Pre-Conference Symposia – International Stroke Conference
ISC Sessions: February 7–9, 2024
Phoenix Convention Center | Phoenix, Arizona
Choose the symposia best for you and your interests
HEADS-UP - Explore health inequalities and problem-solving in this year's Health Equity and Actionable Disparies in Stroke.
Stroke in the Real World - Emerging therapies and treatments in clinical stroke care.
Stroke in the Lab World - Bench science and practices in preclinical translational stroke research.
Scroll down to see the schedules.
Pre-Con Symposia Schedules
All times are Mountain Standard Time (MST) (GMT -7)
2024 HEADS-UP: Health Equity and Actionable Disparities in Stroke: Understanding and Problem Solving
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Program coming soon.
2024 Stroke in the Real World
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Program coming soon.
2024 Stroke in the Lab World
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Preclinical translational stroke research is at a crossroads. Exploratory animal experimentation in stroke therapy development has not predicted clinical outcomes. Therefore, we are facing a challenge in selecting the best and most relevant candidates for clinical trials in ischemic stroke. The established system of exploratory preclinical therapeutic testing in stroke is problematic. There are concerns over the design and execution of studies, their reproducibility, and generalizability. Over decades, investigators have deviated from sound scientific principles under impact, funding, and peer pressure, raising concern about the predictive value of animal experimentation in stroke therapy development. Urgent issues include 1) elimination of bias, 2) accountability of all animals, 3) incorporation of relevant biological variables, and 4) quality control.
To tackle these issues, independent, unbiased, and streamlined multicenter preclinical trial platforms are needed, with impartial funding, centralized blinding, randomization, independent data analysis, accountability, and quality control. The recognition and urgency of this unmet need has created momentum in planning and launching multicenter preclinical trial platforms in the US and Europe.
However, unlike clinical trials, the preclinical trial methodology is not established, and numerous issues remain unresolved, such as standardization for increased statistical power versus allowing natural heterogeneity to mimic real-world conditions better, methods for randomization and blinding, appropriate models and readouts, etc. A global consensus is needed, including common data elements to maximize the utility of the large amounts of data generated for future analyses across platforms.
This topic is both timely and appropriate for a premeeting all-day basic and translational science symposium at the ISC2024. We aim for international representation, opportunities for juniors to participate, and in-depth discussions on dedicated sessions on the most pressing and thorny issues facing preclinical trialists.
Moderator: Cenk Ayata, Charlestown, Massachusetts
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | Welcome Cenk Ayata, Charlestown, Massachusetts |
| 9:15 a.m. | NIH Priorities for Translation in Stroke |
| 9:30 a.m. | What is the knowledge Gap? Can Meta-Analyses Address It?> |
| 9:45 a.m. | Discovery vs. Confirmatory Testing |
| 10:00 a.m. | How to Select the Best Candidates to Test? Who Decides? |
| 10:15 a.m. | Discussion |
| 10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 11:00 a.m. | Should We Mimic Clinical Trials? Do We Need a New Design for Preclinical Trials? James Koenig, Rockville, Maryland |
| 11:15 a.m. | Which/How Many Stroke Models/Species to Employ? Arthur Liesz, Munich, Germany |
| 11:30 a.m. | Which Comorbid Models (Age, Sex, HFD, HTN)? Marilyn J Cipolla, Burlington, Vermont |
| 11:45 a.m. | Standardization vs. Heterogeneity? What to Control For? Cenk Ayata, Charlestown, Massachusetts |
| 12:00 p.m. | Statistical Models |
| 12:15 p.m. | Discussion |
| 12:45 p.m. | Lunch |
| 2:00 p.m. | Clinical Correlation vs. Species-Specific Readouts? Lauren H. Sansing, New Haven, Connecticut |
| 2:15 p.m. | Neurological Readouts: Which Tests? |
| 2:30 p.m. | Tissue Readouts: Histological vs. Imaging? |
| 2:45 p.m. | Artificial Intelligence in Outcome Assessments |
| 3:00 p.m. | How to Handle Mortality as an Outcome and a Confounder? |
| 3:15 p.m. | Discussion |
| 3:30 p.m. | Break |
| 4:00 p.m. | Infrastructure Challenges: Randomization, Blinding, Tracking, Data Storage, Analysis Patrick D. Lyden, Los Angeles, California |
| 4:15 p.m. | Harmonization of Outcome Readouts Across a Network |
| 4:30 p.m. | Common Data Elements |
| 4:45 p.m. | Medium, Format, and Principles for Sharing the Outcomes with the Community |
| 5:00 p.m. | Discussion |