# Treatment Targets for Inflamed Intracranial Atherosclerosis on Vessel Wall MRI

> **NIH NIH K23** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $194,184

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 This is a K23 award application for Dr. Adam de Havenon, a neurologist and young investigator pursuing
patient-oriented clinical research on ischemic stroke caused by intracranial atherosclerosis. A K23 award will
provide him with the means to acquire critical skills in three key career development areas: 1) biostatistics and
clinical trial design, 2), the biology of atherosclerosis and 3) translational MRI research. By acquiring these
skills, Dr. de Havenon will fulfill his career goal of becoming an independent investigator who can bridge the
disciplines of neuroimaging research and clinical trials in vascular neurology. To pursue this goal, Dr. de
Havenon has assembled the mentoring team of Drs. Dennis Parker (primary mentor), an MRI physicist with
expertise in neuroimaging evaluation of the cerebrovasculature, and Jennifer Majersik (co-mentor), a
neurologist with expertise in stroke epidemiology and clinical trial design. Complementing them is a four person
Advisory Committee with authorities in biostatistics, clinical trials, intracranial atherosclerosis, and MRI.
 Intracranial atherosclerosis is the most common cause of stroke in the world and has the highest rate of
stroke recurrence. Based on recent evidence and his own preliminary data, Dr. de Havenon’s central
hypothesis is that ischemic stroke in intracranial atherosclerosis is due to macrophage-mediated vulnerability.
We will test this hypothesis with the powerful new vessel wall MRI technique combined with an MRI contrast
that labels macrophages in intracranial atherosclerosis, which will allow the identification of innovative
biomarkers of intracranial atherosclerosis stroke risk and potential treatment targets for future studies. By
pursuing the following specific aims, the applicant will test his hypothesis and gather data for a clinical trial to
reduce recurrent stroke risk in intracranial atherosclerosis (to be proposed in an R01 application during the K23
award period). Specific Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that ferumoxytol, the MRI contrast that labels
macrophages, will be seen in arteries with intracranial atherosclerosis that recently caused stroke. Specific
Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that arteries with intracranial atherosclerosis and ferumoxytol-labeled
macrophages will have progression of the narrowing of the artery caused by intracranial atherosclerosis over a
one-year period. Specific Aim 3 will test the hypothesis that arteries with intracranial atherosclerosis and
ferumoxytol-labeled macrophages will have more strokes over a one-year period.
 The proposed research is significant because intracranial atherosclerosis is understudied and requires new
approaches to reduce its risk. The proposed research is innovative because it combines an advanced imaging
technique (vessel wall MRI) and a novel use of the macrophage-specific MRI contrast ferumoxytol, to provide
multimodal insight into the mechanism of stroke from intracranial atheroscleros...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10396018
- **Project number:** 5K23NS105924-05
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Adam H. de Havenon
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $194,184
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10396018

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10396018, Treatment Targets for Inflamed Intracranial Atherosclerosis on Vessel Wall MRI (5K23NS105924-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10396018. Licensed CC0.

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