StrokeCog clinical training platform has been established with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Its objective is to enhance the design of clinical trials to improve equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility by developing a new generation of more diverse clinical trial leaders with training to conduct inclusive complex trials in diverse populations, across a wider range of care settings.

This will position Canada as a global leader in equity-driven clinical trials.

Although stroke affects Canadians of every age, sex, and ethnicity from all over Canada, the majority of stroke clinical trials are conducted in major centres with limited participation from the highest risk populations or those with the most severe deficits, which limits the benefits of trial advances to only a fraction of Canadians impacted by stroke.

There are marked inequities in stroke prevalence, risk factor burden and control, acute care and rehabilitation by sex and ethnicity, with marginalized communities and women showing the greatest vulnerability and worst outcomes. Despite these inequities, women and individuals from high-risk marginalized communities are underrepresented in stroke clinical trials.

This platform will develop a new generation of more diverse stroke clinical trial leaders, with training to conduct inclusive complex trials in diverse populations, across a wider range of care settings to maximize benefit for all Canadians.

Centering EDIA means that STROKECOG will prioritize the representation and participation of all equity-deserving groups in the development and delivery of its high-quality training programs, with content designed to specifically address known/identified inequities in the current clinical trials landscape in Canada.

Why is this important? Stroke remains the second leading cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of adult long-term disability. Inequitable clinical trial designs and practices limit the success and generalizability of trial outcomes. By employing an EDIA-centered approach, STROKECOG will provide new opportunities for the development of diversified clinical trials expertise and leadership that will promote inclusive trial designs and practices and capacity building in under-represented care settings.

StrokeCog is an equity, diversity, inclusivity and accessibility (EDIA)-centered training platform that will redefine how stroke clinical trials expertise is developed in Canada.

Our vision is to innovate new approaches to clinical trials training that directly embed evidence-based EDIA principles at every stage to create sustainable change in the systems of clinical trial design and conduct in Canada. Using these principles, we will develop more diversified clinical trials teams with the expertise to conduct high quality, innovative, clinical trials across the stroke continuum that are more inclusive and accessible to the broader stroke population and across a diverse range of care settings, to create a trials landscape that will produce more equitable evidence for the prevention, management and outcomes of stroke.

StrokeCog will:

1. Develop structured, openly accessible, and sustainable training and mentoring platforms:
2. Support development of skills that increase employability and career prospects across sectors;
3. Support and contribute to CTF funded research and participate in the Pan-Canadian Clinical Trials Consortium.

This platform is early-career-researcher led and includes 14 partnering academic institutions across six provinces, engagement from established academic training networks, industry partners, community and Indigenous organizations, EDI champions, and knowledge users, including trainees and individuals with lived experience and experts in knowledge mobilization.

To directly address gaps, the StrokeCog Platform will develop new stroke clinical trial training and mentorship initiatives that will employ multiple EDIA-informed strategies to enhance the diversity of trainees, provide training in diverse care settings, and increase cross-sectoral participation.

It will do this by developing structured, openly accessible and sustainable training and mentoring platforms that build capacity in the design, delivery, and analysis of clinical trials.

 

Annual Conference and Summer Institutes

There will be an annual two-day conference to bring together trainees, mentors, and partners. This conference will feature presentations from international experts in stroke clinical trials and will highlight trainee research and offer multiple networking events both with peers and StrokeCog mentors.

Please join us in late November 2024 in Calgary at the Canadian Stroke Congress – click on website link for more details.

We will also offer intensive, hands-on training opportunities with an in-depth focus on high priority topics in stroke research through the creation of an innovative program of in-person weeklong training institutes.

We are currently planning a training workshop for summer 2025.

Experiential Translational Workshops

CanSTAR (Canadian Stroke Trainee Association in Research) has developed the programming for this year’s Stroke Program in Neurorecovery (SPiN) Workshop. This experiential translational workshop, which has been successfully running since 2003, provides trainees will have hands-on interactive exposure to ongoing clinical research in active trial settings at partnering academic institutions. During this multi-day workshops trainees will visit labs at institution(s) near the conference location and have hands-on exposure to trial protocols, and interact with the clinical trials team and patient participants.

The next SPiN Workshop will occur in Nov 25-26, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. Click here for the agenda. To apply, click here.

Fellowship Programs:

StrokeCog is actively working to develop sustainable clinical and research stroke fellowships training outside of major academic centres to develop capacity for the design, delivery and analysis of clinical trials in more diverse care settings.

We currently have two fellowship programs:

• Research Fellowships (MD and/or PhD) – providing funding for a clinical trials research fellowship in stroke and/or Vascular Cognitive Impairment. The funding competition is being run in collaboration with CANTRAIN – to learn more including how and when to apply, click here.
• Clinical Fellowships (MD) – providing funding for MDs in physiatry interested in completing a certification program in stroke rehabilitation. Development of this new first-in-Canada certification program for stroke rehabilitation is currently nearing completion and plans are to open up the program to interested physiatrists by 2025.  Stay tuned!

We will enhance the diversity of candidates applying to the fellowship program via targeted advertising of fellowship awards for recruitment from diverse subspecialties, and underrepresented and international communities.

We will work to create synergic training opportunities for fellows with other national health training platforms and our organizational and industry partners to build capacity for training in the design and delivery of trials testing assistive technologies or with cognitive endpoints that will enable increased participation from more diverse patient populations currently underrepresented in stroke clinical trials.

Clinical Trial Observership Exchange Program

StrokeCog will develop a new clinical trials observership exchange program, where trainees from all levels of the clinical trials team will be eligible to apply for an exchange with another Pan-Canadian Clinical Trials Consortium funded clinical trial team to observe trial conduct and delivery in different trial settings. Trainees will be offered experiential learning exposure to different trial designs, recruitment pathways, management structures and data governance practices to give them new perspectives on the design and conduct of clinical trials across different health care settings and with different interventions and clinical teams.

We are currently offering up to $5,000 to gain skills by visiting another institution. To apply for this clinical trial research practicum, click here.

Governance Observerships

Starting in September 2024, developed by the trainee association CanSTAR (Canadian Stroke Trainee Association in Research), we have created a governance observership program. Completion of this program will provide trainees with a unique experiential training opportunity to observe and learn governance via observerships with the Executive Committees and/or Steering Committees of ongoing trials and trial platforms/consortiums, including the StrokeCog Clinical Trials Training Platform, CanStroke Recovery Trials Platform, and the CanStim Platform.

Participants will be allowed to attend Executive and/or Steering Committee meetings as shadow observers to learn trials governance structure, process and decision-making. Each observership will lasting one year, divided into four-month terms with three different platforms, plus completion of a self-driven online education module on governance. No prior experience is necessary. These observerships will be essential to ensure that rising clinical trial leaders not only learn best practices for clinical trial design and management but also learn trial governance, specifically within the context of large trials consortiums.

HOW TO APPLY: The application process will include submission of a resume/CV and a statement of interest outlining your motivation for participating in the program.  We are continuing to accept applications. If interested, please email your applications to Holly at info@canadianstroke.ca

Industry-Partnered Internships

The StrokeCog platform is partnering with CANTRAIN to launch a new industry-partnered internship program for registered trainees to add additional value to existing stroke clinical trials training and increase employability of trainees. Internship opportunities will include a focus on the acquisition of new knowledge of innovative technological interventions for stroke recovery and assistive technologies for activities of daily living for chronic community-based stroke survivors, both urgent needs for the stroke community identified in consultation with our StrokeCog leadership and patient representatives.