Objective: To develop a research priority list for the International Stroke Genetics Consortium (ISGC).
Background: Previously, stroke progress review groups and other activities provided an opportunity for members within the field to develop priorities for research. These filtered into larger categories which then published the top research priorities of their given field. However, these review groups are no longer forming and thus there has been no clear direction on what the research priorities and needs for stroke genetics research.
Design/methods: We polled members of the stroke genetics community from around the world including collaborations of the major stroke genetics research efforts currently under way asking each respondent to provide their top 3 research priorities. Each priority was then sorted by the authors into major categories based upon the type of suggestion made. The results were presented for commentary and feedback during the presentation.
Results: Deeper Phenotyping related topics were presented in 84% of respondent top research priorities. These included topics related to ethnic/racial variation, third world countries, deeper evaluation of subtypes of stroke. Translational science related topics were present in 40% of respondent top research priorities and consisted of translating our current findings into a greater understanding of their relationship to stroke and clinical pathophysiology. Pooling of our resources through data banking and sample banking was a topic in 36% of respondents. Recovery/outcome related topics were suggested in 32% of respondents and utilizing novel techniques such as epigenetics, whole genome sequencing, proteomics and metabolomics were present in 28% of respondents. Other topics were not present in more than 25% of the responses for top research priorities.
Conclusions: To summarize, greater sample size and research within subtypes and endophenotypes of stroke was the top research priority of the ISGC. In addition, translating our existing findings, pooling our resources, recovery/outcomes research and utilization of novel techniques were among the top research priorities of the ISGC. A working group will be assembled to draft the ISGC Research Priorities paper.