Ischemic Stroke and Blood Platelets
IMARK has dedicated expertise in ischemic stroke and immunothrombosis, focusing on the interplay between the immune and hemostatic systems that drives brain injury beyond the initial vascular occlusion. Our work integrates clinically relevant murine stroke models (transient and permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, thrombotic stroke) with detailed assessment of short- and long-term functional outcomes, complemented by histopathological and multiplex immunofluorescence analysis of human and murine brain tissue and of patient thrombi retrieved after mechanical thrombectomy. Flow-based and static thrombosis assays with human and murine blood support mechanistic dissection of platelet, neutrophil, and endothelial contributions to cerebrovascular injury.
In parallel, we develop circulating blood-based biomarkers of stroke risk, brain injury, and recovery by combining platelet transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics with high-dimensional flow cytometry on prospective stroke cohorts, linked to longitudinal clinical readouts and neurodegeneration biomarker trajectories. This positions our work at the interface between vascular inflammation and post-stroke cognitive decline, bridging IMARK's neurodegeneration pipeline. Together, these platforms support both mechanistic discovery and biomarker-driven evaluation of next-generation antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory therapeutics.