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" working group is dedicated to the centralisation and use of epidemiological data related to neurovascular diseases. Its aim is to enhance knowledge of the incidence, prevalence, and progression of stroke through the development and use of high-quality registries.

Their main objectives are:

• Ensure epidemiological monitoring of neurovascular diseases.
• Identify clinical factors predictive of neurovascular diseases and their progression.

Their missions include:

• Development of new registries.
• Fostering collaboration between different research groups in order to harmonise data collection, sharing, and analysis.

They are part of the working group focused on registries.

The "Biobanking" working group is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and valorisation of biological samples and associated data in order to improve the understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurovascular diseases and to support the development of new biomarkers.

Their main objective is:

• To identify biological and imaging factors for the diagnosis and progression of stroke.

Their missions include:

• Connection of various research groups in order to jointly identify diagnostic and prognostic markers of stroke.

They are part of the working group focused on biobanking.

The "Innovative Strategies" working group gather 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 continual 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 :

The CAA working group is dedicated to developing clinical research on cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a cerebral small vessel disease that is a major cause of intracerebral haemorrhage and an increasing public health concern. The group's mission is to foster and coordinate a national collaborative research.

Bringing together experts involved in the care of this pathology, the group has already launched several key initiatives, including the submission of a French Hospital Clinical Research Program (PHRC) proposal and the validation of a patient information leaflet. The group also aims to establish CAA cohorts and registries.

They are part of the CAA group : 

The Cavernous working group is dedicated to cerebral cavernous, vascular malformations for which many scientific and clinical questions remain unanswered. By bringing together teams involved in the management and research of this pathology, the group aims to foster collaboration and promote the development of new research projects.

The group will help identify expertise across the country, strengthen collaboration between sites, and reduce the fragmentation of research efforts. It will also explore the establishment of national registries for cerebral cavernous malformations.

The working group is currently being established, and the full list of members will be announced shortly.

The AVM Working Group is dedicated to arteriovenous malformations (AVM), rare vascular pathologies whose management relies on multidisciplinary expertise. Despite the clinical challenges they represent, AVM are currently the subject of a limited number of clinical studies, highlighting the need to structure and strengthen research initiatives in this field.

Bringing together specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, and radiosurgery, the group promotes a collaborative approach aimed at improving knowledge of this pathology, harmonising clinical practices, and identifying research priorities. This multidisciplinary dynamic addresses the entire patient care pathway, from diagnosis to the various therapeutic options.

In the long term, the AVM working group aims to support the development of multicenter studies and strengthen collaboration between French teams.

They are part of the AVM group : 

The PRIMO working group aims to strengthen clinical research within primary stroke centers, i.e. stroke units that do not provide mechanical thrombectomy services and are mainly located in non-university hospitals.

In France, these stroke units account for nearly two-thirds of the facilities providing stroke care and therefore play a key role in the patient care pathway. However, they remain underrepresented in clinical trials, which are mainly conducted in comprehensive stroke centers within university hospitals.

PRIMO’s ambition is to promote the full integration of these centers into national research projects, particularly French Hospital Clinical Research Programs (PHRC). This approach will increase the recruitment capacity of multicenter studies, accelerate their completion, and improve the representativeness of study populations, thereby strengthening the validity and generalisability of research results.

The group brings together experts from primary stroke centers, comprehensive stroke centers, and emergency medical services (SAMU). Its work focuses in particular on identifying centers wishing to become involved in clinical research, analysing barriers to patient enrollment, implementing organisational solutions to overcome these challenges, and developing clinical trials addressing the specific needs of primary stroke centers.

Particular attention is given to therapeutic strategies that can be initiated during the inter-hospital transfer of patients eligible for mechanical thrombectomy, a critical period during which every minute saved may help preserve brain tissue and improve functional outcomes.

They are part of the PRIMO group :