Working Groups

The "Acute Stroke" working group is dedicated to the acute phase of ischemic and haemorrhagic strokes. This phase is the first post-stroke phase and corresponds to the 14 days following the stroke. The team is composed of diverse profiles, including neurologists, neuroradiologists, emergency physicians and researchers, all passionate about improving care and outcomes for stroke patients.

The main objectives of this group are:

• Foster discussions and collaborations between researchers and clinicians for the design and conduct of acute phase clinical trials.
• Support the coordination and implementation of clinical studies.

To achieve these objectives, the group aims to :

• Launch meetings focused on Hospital Clinical Research Programs (PHRCs) to enhance alignment and efficiency of projects at the national level. PHRCs are public calls for projects that fund clinical studies in France. They are one of the main sources of public funding in the country.
• Create a quarterly newsletter for investigators, focused on the progress, challenges, and successes of studies supported by the StrokeLink network.

They are part of the working group on the topic of acute phase stroke :

The "Prevention" working group is dedicated to stroke prevention, particularly through raising awareness about associated risk factors.

Their main objectives are:

• Facilitate the patient recruitment for clinical trials sponsored by members of the StrokeLink network.
• Promote collaborations with various stakeholders (patient associations, international consortia, etc.).
• Disseminate knowledge and raise awareness among the public and healthcare professionals about stroke prevention and risk factors.

Their missions include:

• Develop European and international collaborations by combining data from French and international clinical trials.
• Implement strategies for the detection of stroke risk factors.
• Evaluate industrial and academic projects submitted to the network.
• Set up national clinical trials in collaboration with general practitioners focused on secondary prevention.

The group is undergoing restructuring, and the list of members will be released shortly.

The "Functional and Cognitive Recovery" working group is dedicated to improving the assessment, management, and follow-up of cognitive and functional deficits in stroke survivors.

Their main objectives are : 

• Improve the assessment of post-stroke cognitive and functional deficits.
• Enhance the prediction of long-term cognitive and functional outcomes in stroke patients.
• Evaluate the societal cost and impact of cognitive and functional deficits.
• Define personalised recovery programs based on predictive factors.

Their missions include:

• Developing and validating new tools for functional and cognitive recovery.
• Defining new guidelines for post-stroke recovery from 0 to 3 months and beyond 3 months.
• Establishing recommendations for the assessment of cognitive aspects in stroke patients.

The group is equally committed to the prevention of dementia in the context of the occult small vessel disease of the brain. Similarly, they are developing clinical assessment and rehabilitation strategies for potential minor cognitive impairments within the vascular spectrum at the Vascular Brain Health Institute (VBHI), an Academic Medical Institute : https://vbhi-institute.org/.

The "Registries and Biobanking" working group is dedicated to centralise epidemiological data on neurovascular diseases and predictive markers for stroke diagnosis and progression.

Their main objectives are:

• Ensure epidemiological monitoring of neurovascular diseases.
• Identify clinical predictors of neurovascular diseases and their progression.
• Identify biological and imaging markers for stroke diagnosis and prognosis.

Their missions include:

• Development of new registries.
• Connection of various research groups to collaboratively identify diagnostic and prognostic markers for stroke.

They are part of the working group focused on registries and biobanking.

The "Innovative Strategies" working group gather representatives, physicians, and researchers involved in preclinical and translational stroke research. It is dedicated to the development of new therapeutic approaches across all phases of stroke.

Its main objective is to coordinate stakeholders, laboratories, and clinical departments to initiate and develop innovative national and international studies, while providing scientific guidance and advice.

Their main missions include:

• Promoting preclinical platforms using reliable, harmonised, and reproducible methods (animal models, biomarkers, preclinical methodology) through dedicated training, formalised recommendations, and biomarker database templates for experimental studies .
• Developing innovative imaging methods, both preclinical and clinical, including platforms, contrast agents, image analysis tools (e.g., segmentation), and artificial intelligence algorithms for data processing, diagnosis, and prediction.
• Conducting stroke biology research using centralised biobanks (plasma, thrombi, etc.) linked to clinical and imaging data .
• Advancing therapeutic innovations at different stages of stroke: for the acute phase, innovative materials such as stents and other medical devices, as well as neuroprotection strategies; and for the chronic phase, regenerative medicine (cell therapy and derivatives) and neurotechnologies (robotics, brain-machine interfaces, etc.) .

They are part of the working group focused on innovative strategies.

The "Methodology and Feasibility" working group is dedicated to support clinical research project initiators on all aspects related to methodology, biostatistics, data management, regulatory matters, and report writing.

Their main objectives are :

• To strengthen the methodological and statistical design and analysis of research protocols.
• To ensure compliance with current publication guidelines.
• To disseminate knowledge in methodology and statistics.

Their missions include:

• Conducting methodological and biostatistical monitoring of the scientific literature.
• Supporting project leaders in the methodological and statistical development of their protocols.
• Developing templates for various documents (grant applications, protocols, etc.).
• Creating good practices for methodology and statistics adapted to clinical research.

They are part of the working group focused on methodology and feasibility :

The "Education and Communication" working group is dedicated to structuring research training in neurovascular pathology. The group aims to support the projects by strengthening the autonomy of research teams.

Their main objectives are :

• Support both medical and non-medical staff in setting up research projects.
• Provide multidisciplinary knowledge essential for the implementation of clinical researches (including pathology, legal, administrative aspects, etc.).

Their missions include:

• Development educational tools (written materials, video content, practical case studies).
• Training of operational teams.

They are part of the working group focused on education and communication :

The "Quality" working group is dedicated to implementing a continuous improvement policy within the network.

Their main objectives are:

• To strengthen quality practices across the network’s centers.
• To harmonise quality assurance processes.

Their missions include:

• Promoting the sharing of resources.
• Supporting centers in obtaining ISO 9001 certification.

They are part of the working group focused on quality :

The "Valorisation" working group is dedicated to promoting the research projects developed within the StrokeLink network. Their main objectives are :

• To facilitate the dissemination and sharing of knowledge.
• To highlight the results of clinical trials.

Their missions include:

• Formalisation agreements with industrial partners within the framework of the network’s projects.
• Promotion the value of databases (in collaboration with the Registries and Biobanking working groups, in particular).
• Coordination multisite evaluations of digital applications.
• Training and methodological support during the development of protocols by industrial partners (in coordination with the relevant thematic working groups).

The group aims to welcome new members in order to broaden its range of expertise and better promote the research efforts.

They are part of the working group focused on research valorisation :