How low blood flow after brain artery narrowing affects the vessel lining
Official title: Shear Stress and Endothelial Pathophysiology in Intracranial Atherosclerosis
Funded at University of Southern California · NIH-11504591 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether areas of low blood flow downstream of narrowed brain arteries cause vessel lining damage and raise the chance of another stroke, for people with intracranial artery narrowing.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | February 1, 2020 |
| Project end | November 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $335,571 |
| NIH project number | 7R01NS112799-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11504591 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with intracranial atherosclerotic narrowing (ICAD), especially those who have had a stroke or TIA and have CTA imaging available.
✕Less likely to help
People without intracranial artery narrowing, whose strokes come from other causes (like cardioembolism), or who lack suitable imaging would likely not benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
Researchers will reanalyze high-resolution CT angiograms from a large clinical imaging archive (SAMMPRIS) and build computer blood-flow models to find places of low shear stress inside brain arteries. They will combine those models with lab studies of endothelial (vessel-lining) cells to look for inflammation and clotting signals such as VCAM‑1. The project uses the Neurovascular Imaging Research Core at UCLA to validate flow patterns across different brain arteries and directly observe flow vortices and adjacent low-shear zones. Ultimately the team hopes to link these imaging and lab findings to who had recurrent strokes so treatments can be aimed at the risky regions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help identify patients at higher risk for recurrent stroke and point to targeted anti-inflammatory or anti-thrombotic treatments to prevent it.
How similar studies have gone: Research in systemic (non-brain) arteries has linked low shear stress to vessel inflammation and prior SAMMPRIS imaging provides supporting data, but applying detailed CFD and endothelial markers to cerebral arteries is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Liebeskind, David Sigmund — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Liebeskind, David Sigmund
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.