August 2026

NEUROSCIENCES

IMPROVING STROKE CARE AND INNOVATION

Featuring: Ayush Batra, MD, Marc Slutzky, ‘02 MD, ‘00 PhD, ‘06 GME
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​This story was originally published in the August issue of the Breakthroughs Newsletter.

Developing Therapies to Protect the Brain 
In a study published in the journal Neurotherapeutics, Northwestern Medicine scientists developed an injectable regenerative nanomaterial that helps protect the brain during this vulnerable window.
 
In the preclinical study, the team delivered a single intravenous dose immediately after restoring blood flow in a mouse model of ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. The therapy successfully crossed the blood-brain barrier significantly reduced brain damage and showed no signs of side effects or organ toxicity. 

This research is a collaboration with Samuel Stupp, PhD, director of the Center for Regenerative Nanomedicine. Dr. Stupp developed the injectable therapy based on supramolecular therapeutic peptides (STPs), building  on his study published in Science in 2021, which demonstrated how the  STP technology and the highly dynamic nature of its therapeutic agents could reverse paralysis and repair tissue in mice after a single injection at the site of severe spinal cord injury.  

The new study found scientists can administer similar dynamic assemblies of molecules intravenously. “One of the most promising aspects of this study is that we were able to show this therapeutic technology, which has shown incredible promise in spinal cord injury, can now begin to be applied in a stroke model and that it can be delivered systemically,” says Dr. Stupp, a co-senior author of the study.

The findings are highly relevant for future clinical applications because the scientists tested the approach in a mouse model that closely mimics real-world ischemic stroke treatment, Ayush Batra, MD, co-senior author says. 

According to Dr. Batra, the new therapy is primed to address secondary injury, but the studies will require a longer follow-up period and more sophisticated behavioral testing. 

Building Video Games That Offer Therapeutic Benefit 
In a recent study, published in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Marc Slutzky, MD, PhD, and his team developed a 90s-style video game to help chronic stroke survivors regain lost arm function.

While wearing a small device on their impaired arm and using a laptop computer, players use their arm muscles to complete tasks such as flying a helicopter around the screen to hit a moving target.

Patients in the study experienced moderate to severe arm impairment (only able to slightly move their arm and extend their elbow) from a stroke at least six months prior to beginning the study. The average patient was 6.4 years out from their stroke while some were 12 years out. 

After six weeks of the game-based therapy, participants improved arm function by 7.8 times as much as those in the control group. They also kept improving even after stopping the therapy. The therapy also improved the range of motion in the participant’s arm during reaching tasks, as well as their ability to perform daily activities.   

Being able to play the game at home allowed for better access to the therapy and increased reps. Participants performed more than 300 reps per day compared to normal physical therapy in a clinic where they might get only 30 reps three days per week, says Dr. Slutzky, senior author of the paper. 

The team, along with Northwestern University bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers, PhD, is working to make the game’s wearable device completely wireless. They’re also upgrading the games to be more engaging, and in the future, they plan to test it on patients’ legs. 
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​This article was originally published in the Feinberg School of Medicine News Center on August 10, 2026. ​
Ayush Batra, MD, associate professor in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology and senior author of a recent paper in Neurotherapeutics.

Marc Slutzky, MD, PhD, is professor of Neurology and of Neuroscience and senior author of a recent paper in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

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