13 July 2021

Successfull SNSF IICT grant application

The call for Investigator-initiated Clinical Trials (IICTs) is launched once a year. In 2021 seven out of 31 projects submitted were considered.

The research groups of Marios-Nikos Psychogios, Head of diagnost. and interv. Neuroradiology at the University Hospital Basel (USB) and Urs Fischer, designated Head of Neurology at the USB as of August 2021, will receive SNSF funding for their DISTAL study on endovascular therapy for stroke.

The aim of the study is to investigate whether endovascular therapy can prevent disability in patients with stroke and occlusion of a medium-sized cerebral artery. As a minimally invasive procedure, this therapeutic approach would represent a new treatment perspective for many affected individuals and could contribute to a significant reduction in the burden of disease.

The study is being conducted by the Neuroradiology team in collaboration with Prof. Urs Fischer, the new Head of the Department of Neurology at the USB and his team, and in collaboration with the Department of Clinical Research (DKF), which supports the study with its services in the areas of methodology, statistics, regulatory affairs, data management, project management and monitoring. Further Swiss university hospitals are also involved.

For the first time, representatives of patients and the public were included in the evaluation. By means of a call for proposals, the SNSF sought candidates for this collaboration at the end of 2020. The four selected individuals all have many years of experience in representing the interests of patients and in the dialogue between society and research.