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| Dr Connie Wong |
Stroke
is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide but current treatments
do not address a key issue in stroke patients—infections.
For
the first time, researchers at Monash
University are examining how stroke affects the immune system, resulting in
significantly increased risk of infection.
Dr Connie
Wong from the Monash Centre
for Inflammatory Diseases in the School
of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) believes the susceptibility to
infection of stroke patients can be prevented or treated with selective drugs
that modulate the immune system.
“Up
to now, the development of novel pharmacological approaches to treat stroke
patients has focused on overcoming the disruption of blood flow to the brain,”
said Dr Wong.
“However,
emerging evidence indicates that the major cause of death after stroke is
actually bacterial infection.”
“It
is now recognised that brain injury caused by stroke disrupts the delicately
balanced interconnections between the nervous and immune systems, resulting in
suppression of the immune system and profound susceptibility to infection.”
Dr
Wong’s research aims to discover the mechanisms that underlie this immune
impairment and identify strategies to strengthen the host antibacterial defence
to limit infections after stroke.
“We
hope to identify a completely novel pharmacological approach for reducing
bacterial infection in stroke patients that is not reliant on antibiotics, thus
bypassing the growing problem of antibiotic resistance,” added Dr Wong.
Dr
Wong is the recipient of a Career Development Fellowship and Project Grant in
the latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
funding announcements.
“Thanks
to this funding, my research will enable us to develop better and targeted
treatment regimens for stroke patients, ultimately improving patient outcomes,”
added Dr Wong.
