Translational Research Themed Edition; Ijs

Improving the efficiency of the development of drugs for stroke David W. Howells, Emily S. Sena, Victoria O'Collins, Malcolm R. Macleod The mortality and morbidity associated with stroke makes the development of new drugs a research priority. Unsuccessful clinical trials have dampened enthusiasm for the development of neuroprotective drugs. The article Improving the efficiency of the development of drugs for stroke published as in the Translational research edition of the international Journal of stroke use empirical evidence derived from systematic reviews of stroke drug development to identify stages of drug development which might be improved and proposes helpful exemplar strategies and basic economic modeling assessing the impact of these strategies. Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins Managing Editor of the International Journal of Stroke spoke to Assoc. Professor David Howells from The Florey Institute of Neurosciences and Mental Health.

Blood biomarkers may be useful in diagnosis, prediction or treatment for stroke, unfortunately discovery of these elusive blood biomarkers has so far been uneventful. However, there is hope according to the review Blood biomarkers in stroke: research and clinical practice published online and in hard copy in this month’s Translational research edition of IJS authored by William Whiteley, Yingfang Tian, and Glen C Jickling. Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins Managing Editor of the International Journal of Stroke spoke to Professor William Whitely about research into biomarkers and their potential use in clinical practice.

The article ‘Stem cells in stroke treatment: the promise and the challenges’ published in the IJS translational research edition looks at challenges facing the development of stem cell therapy for stroke. Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins Managing Editor of the International Journal of Stroke spoke to author John Sinden from ReNeuron Limited, Guildford in the UK who coauthored this paper with Keith Muir.