The Los Angeles-Southern California Regional Clinical Coordinating Center for the NINDS Stroke Clinical Trials Network (LASC StrokeNet) is a consortium of 49 acute stroke and rehabilitation medical centers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, coordinated jointly by three academic medical centers, UCLA (co-lead), USC (co-lead), and UC Irvine. In the LASC StrokeNet, physicians, nurses, and coordinators from multiple specialties, including neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, rehabilitation medicine, and emergency medicine, work collaboratively to advance develop new therapies and diagnostic approaches for neurovascular disease.
The LASC StrokeNet’s aims are:
1) perform high quality NINDS Stroke Clinical Trial (NSTN) acute and prevention trials throughout Los Angeles and Orange County
2) perform high quality NSTN recovery and rehabilitation trials throughout Los Angeles and Orange County
3) ensure participation of high volumes of underserved populations in NSTN trials, including women, Hispanic-American, African-American, and other minority populations
4) educate fellows, residents, medical students, premedical students, and junior faculty to engage in stroke translational research.
Addressing population diversity and health disparities is a special focus of LASC StrokeNet. Rates in LA and OC of premature death and disability due to stroke exceed national averages. Stroke is the 2nd leading cause of death in LA County and 3rd leading cause of death in OC. Because current therapeutic options inadequately prevent stroke morbidity in our diverse race-ethnic population, we pursue a regionally transformative mission. Moreover, as the national U.S. population becomes more diverse - more like LA and OC - in the 21st century, our contributions to stroke prevention, acute treatment, and recovery research may offer a model for translational research implementation nationwide.