Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. While advances in stroke care now allow for more effective treatment of patients who present emergently to hospital, there remains a need for new therapies and improvements in treatment delivery. Dr. Yogendrakumar’s research program aims to develop and evaluate cutting-edge therapies for acute stroke. Using a combination of prospective data collection, advanced imaging analysis, and translational research methods, Dr. Yogendrakumar’s research will investigate the following major areas:

1. Evaluating and Developing Novel Thrombolytic Therapies for Ischemic Stroke
In ischemic stroke, rapid restoration of blood flow is essential to reduce brain injury. Thrombolytic medications, such as alteplase, have been a mainstay of acute treatment. However, the effectiveness of alteplase is limited in patients with severe strokes due to large clot burden (referred to as a large vessel occlusion). Interest has therefore turned to novel thrombolytic therapies that may be more effective than current lytic treatments. Dr. Yogendrakumar is interested in evaluating the latest thrombolytic therapies through randomized controlled trials and is passionate in improving our understanding of clot composition through cutting edge translational research.

2. Innovative Treatment Options for Hemorrhagic Stroke
Although they comprise only 10-30% of all stroke events, hemorrhagic strokes cause more death and disability than ischemic strokes. Almost half of patients die within the first month and survivors are often left with life-long disability. In the absence of effective treatments, current hemorrhagic stroke management is limited to supportive care on stroke units and control of blood pressure. Dr. Yogendrakumar's research program aims to evaluate novel methods to treat hemorrhagic stroke, including minimally invasive surgery and bundled care models.

3. Improving Pre-Hospital Care for Stroke
While the majority of Canada’s population lives within urban centres, a significant portion also live within rural or semi-rural areas. Stroke centers in smaller communities can provide treatments such as thrombolysis, however, critical treatments such as endovascular therapy or imaging technologies, such as CT perfusion, are often not available. Through implementation research initiatives, Dr. Yogendrakumar will work with local stakeholders to identify the gaps in acute stroke care that exist for rural patients and then explore how telemedicine and portable imaging technologies could be implemented and appropriately scaled to address these inequities. The efficacy and safety of these initiatives would be formally evaluated using carefully designed studies.