VCU Medical Center selected to join federally funded clinical trials network to investigate neurological emergencies

By Sathya Achia Abraham

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been selected to participate in a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial network -- a groundbreaking, multi-centered research endeavor designed to shorten the number of years needed for researchers to complete a study.

The VCU Medical Center will take part in the NIH's Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials, or NETT, which examines potential new therapies for the most common and devastating neurological emergencies.

In the United States, neurological emergencies such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and spinal cord injuries occur every 28 seconds. Each year, more than $115 billion is spent on health care of patients suffering from these conditions. For these types of injuries, early treatment is critical. Clinical trials require the participation of a large number of patients. If one institution were to conduct its own clinical trial, it could take close to 60 years to complete the study.

"Through the network we have the opportunity to collaborate with other institutions across the country to advance the standard of therapy – identifying new drugs or using existing drugs to serve a new purpose and developing technologies," said Joseph Ornato, M.D., professor and chairman of emergency medicine at the VCU Medical Center, and the principal investigator at VCU.

According to Ornato, the NIH is funding the NETT as a research network designed to conduct multiple trials in sequence for a period of time, rather than a single research study. The network includes between 10 and 20 investigational hub institutions, each with two to 10 local and regional hospitals that participate in the trial.

Ornato is involved as a consultant in another NIH-sponsored network called the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) to oversee clinical trials seeking to improve resuscitation methods for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims treated by paramedics.

Bill Barsan, M.D., of the University of Michigan, oversees NETT and is joined by researchers at 17 investigational hubs across the country. Other hubs are located at Emory University; Henry Ford Hospital; Medical College of Wisconsin; Neurological Institute of New York – Presbyterian Hospital; Oregon Health and Science University; Stanford University Medical Center; Temple University; University of Arizona; University of California, San Francisco; University of Cincinnati; University of Kentucky; University of Maryland Medical Center; University of Minnesota; University of Pennsylvania; University of Texas Medical Center at Houston; and Wayne State University.

In addition to the University of Michigan, the Statistical & Data Management Center at the Medical University of South Carolina serves as a coordinating center for the network.

The network is supported by the NIH's National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

At VCU, Ornato will work closely with John Ward, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon. Ornato has special expertise in cardiology, resuscitation, emergency management/preparedness and disaster response. He also is the operational medical director of Richmond's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. Ward works with children who have brain or spinal cord conditions or injuries requiring surgical intervention.