UofSC School of Medicine, Palmetto Health Stroke Center Join Stroke Trial Network
July 23, 2014
COLUMBIA, SC – The University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Palmetto Health have joined the National Institutes of Health Stroke Trials Network (NIH Stroke Net), a network of 25 nationally recognized stroke centers addressing prevention, treatment and recovery from stroke through clinical research.
NIH StrokeNet intends to streamline stroke research and improve the efficiency of clinical trials. A national coordinating center at the University of Cincinnati will assemble a data-sharing system and centralize the approval and review of clinical trials, lessening the time and costs involved. The most promising therapies can then quickly advance to the clinical setting to benefit patients.
“This is an exciting new development for stroke patients in South Carolina,” said Dr. Souvik Sen, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the School of Medicine. “NIH StrokeNet makes available new avenues of treatment, medication and prevention strategies. If it has been tried and effective at other NIH-sponsored research centers, our patients in the Midlands now will have access to it.”
Dr. James Raymond, Palmetto Health Chief Medical Academic Officer, added, “We are very excited about our Stroke Center joining with the NIH in its StrokeNet program. Collaborating with this select network of nationally recognized stroke centers will enable us to be in the forefront of clinical research directed at the prevention and treatment of stroke. Dr. Sen has been a tremendous advocate and driving force in our efforts to develop sophisticated, multidisciplinary stroke care in South Carolina and this is a superb example of that collaboration. We are pleased to be able to use this collaboration to benefit our patients in every way possible.”
The School of Medicine’s and Palmetto Health’s entry into the Stroke Trials Network includes a collaborative approach with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and the Greenville Health System in Greenville to form the South Carolina Collaborative Alliance for Stroke Trials. Together, the three organizations are recognized as one of NIH’s regional stroke centers.
“In the future, NIH is expected to fund many of its clinical trials through StrokeNet,” said Sen. “Having South Carolina’s three comprehensive stroke centers working together to share resources and design research studies will benefit all patients seeking stroke care in our state.”
NIH chose centers that had experience in stroke research, an ability to recruit stroke patients into clinical trials and access to multiple specialties involved in stroke care.
Palmetto Health and the School of Medicine have established an advanced multidisciplinary stroke program that cares for patients throughout the Midlands of South Carolina. The stroke center at Palmetto Health Richland is the only Joint Commission-accredited Primary Stroke Center in the Midlands and the first Midlands hospital to receive the Gold Plus Achievement Award for stroke and heart failure and achieve the Target: Stroke Honor Roll by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
About Palmetto Health
Palmetto Health, the largest healthcare system and non-governmental employer in South Carolina, is composed of more than 10,000 team members, physicians and volunteers working together to fulfill Palmetto Health’s vision: to be remembered by each patient as providing the care and compassion we want for our families and ourselves. The system includes four acute-care hospitals – Palmetto Health Baptist, Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital, Palmetto Health Heart Hospital and Palmetto Health Richland – as well as an expansive physician practice network, dozens of affiliated clinics and specialty care practices, and a 501(c)(3) foundation. Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge, the region’s newest hospital located in northwest Columbia, opened in March 2014. Recognized nationally as one of the best places to work and receive care, Palmetto Health also trains the next generation of physicians through its 23 residency and fellowship programs affiliated with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. For more information, visit www.PalmettoHealth.org.
,
About USC School of Medicine
The University of South Carolina School of Medicine and its clinical practice, University Specialty Clinics, are committed to providing world-class health care to South Carolinians. University Specialty Clinics is one of the largest physician practices in the Midlands of South Carolina with more than 160 faculty physicians trained in many areas of medicine offering a breadth of specialty and subspecialty services. Since welcoming its first class of students in 1977, the School of Medicine has provided a high-quality and personalized medical education to more than 3,000 graduates and is recognized nationally as the first medical school to offer students a four-year integrated ultrasound curriculum. Basic science researchers are involved in groundbreaking medical research in such areas as heart disease, stroke, inflammation, telepsychiatry and ultrasound. For more information, visit www.med.sc.edu.
