CanStroke Recovery Trials is the world’s first clinical trial platform dedicated exclusively to stroke recovery. CanStroke has the infrastructure to quickly and efficiently run stroke recovery trials across Canada. It’s the launching pad to test and evaluate innovative therapies, interventions and devices.
This multidisciplinary platform brings together research leaders with backgrounds in physiatry, neurology, neuropsychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, clinical epidemiology and neuroscience to lead large-scale, multi-site clinical trials to advance discovery and transform care.
Critical elements of the CanStroke platform include:
- harmonized training programs for coordinators and therapists;
- standardized outcome measures;
- procedures for data collection and management; and,
- communication mechanisms to share best practices and lessons learned.
The CanStroke platform has also helped investigators overcome common barriers to conducting stroke recovery trials. For example, recruitment for stroke recovery trials can often be challenging because some studies recruit days after a stroke, but some recruit several months or years post-stroke, depending on the intervention being studied. By conducting multiple studies at multiple time points on the CanStroke platform, investigators have ready access to “recruitment pathways”, or a broader pool of individuals over time, making recruitment significantly more efficient.
Since its establishment, CanStroke has gained attention worldwide. Research teams from around the world have approached the Canadian trials group because they know that a well-managed network and collaborative approach get the job done.