Dr Jessica Maclean awarded THANZ grant

Dr Jessica Maclean has been awarded a Thrombosis and Haemostasis society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ) Scientific & Education Trust Grant to further investigate novel antiplatelet strategies to enhance stroke treatment.

Cardiovascular disease, which includes stroke, is a leading cause of death and disability in Australia and the world. Despite this, there is only one drug available to treat stroke caused by blood clots. This treatment, thrombolysis, has a range of side effects that means less than 15 per cent of stroke sufferers are eligible to receive it – leaving 85 per cent with limited options.

Dr Maclean’s research aims to address this significant unmet clinical need. Using a novel model of stroke she developed, Dr Maclean will investigate the use of current and novel antiplatelet targets in conjunction with existing treatments to safely remove blood clots and restore blood flow in stroke.

On this global project, Dr Maclean works with the Thrombosis Group at HRI led by Professor Shaun Jackson and including Associate Professor Simone Schoenwaelder and Mr Ben Hofma, alongside Dr Xuyu Liu, a medicinal chemist leading the Cardiovascular-protective Signalling and Drug Discovery Unit at HRI and Professor Pierre Mangin of the University of Strasbourg, France.

“I am extremely grateful to the THANZ Society for their generous support of this exciting work,” says Dr Maclean.