The Neurosciences Foundation provides funds for small projects that help researchers to get preliminary data to improve their bids to larger funding bodies. We were therefore delighted when our £9.6K award for a stroke study lead by Professor Keith Muir at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow led to a £250K grant to fund a larger study.
Some strokes are caused by a large clot from the heart blocking blood supply to the brain. Current practice is to attempt to remove the clot, but only if this can be done within 4.5 hours of onset of the stroke. Prof Muir’s team are exploring whether this time window could be extended to 24 hours. Clearly, the sooner treatment is applied the better. ‘Time is brain’ should still be the slogan, but perhaps there could be some benefit for patients up to 24 hours. We eagerly await the results of the full study.
