Developing a new clot busting drug for the treatment of stroke

Doctor Danielle Robinson, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

Postgraduate Scholarship

Years funded: 2026 - 2028

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability globally. Stroke affects over 13 million people annually, with over 5 million deaths per year due to stroke. The complications of stroke can be devastating with one-in-four patients requiring support in their daily activities and a further quarter living in a nursing home. Over 85% of strokes in Australia and the developed world are due to the blockage of a blood vessel by a blood clot leading to brain injury. As such, clot busting therapies that dissolve the blood clot and restore blood flow to the brain are essential to prevent brain injury, reduce mortality and long-term disability. The current clot-busting treatments available are unfortunately ineffective in over 50% of cases and are associated with significant bleeding complications.

We are developing a new drug that will demonstrate more effective and safer clot-busting potential. This project will focus on drug development as well as drug testing in mouse models of stroke and bleeding, as well as on clots removed from human stroke patients who have undergone thrombectomy (a procedure to remove stroke clots). The results of our project will ultimately lead to testing in human trials of acute stroke with the potential for enormous global impact in reducing the devastating effects of stroke.