The UCLA Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, along with the USC Comprehensive Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center at Keck Medicine of USC and UC Irvine have been given a $2 million grant by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to form the Los Angeles–Southern California Regional Coordinating Center.
Jointly led by the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the Keck Medical Center of USC, the coalition will bring together 49 acute stroke and rehabilitation medical centers throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties to conduct five to 10 stroke-related clinical trials. The trials will be implemented and serve as a resourse to improve stroke prevention, acute therapy and recovery after a stroke.
"This research network is built upon the robust foundation of two decades of cooperative clinical care and clinical trials in cerebrovascular disease in Southern California," said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of the UCLA Stroke Center and a professor of neurology. "The close collaboration of all three academic medical centers in the region — UCLA, USC and UCI — represents a natural and important evolution of our extensive past collaborations."
Strokes are the second leading cause of death in Los Angeles and the fourth in the United States. In order to receive the NIH grant, all three institutions demonstrated their ability to change this figure through clinical science excellence, specialized expertise in stroke management, a strong background in stroke research and a proven ability to recruit stroke patients.
