Clinical Research Studies

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association offers the opportunity to be included in clinical research studies:

What is ARAMIS?

Addressing Real-world Anticoagulant Management Issues in Stroke (ARAMIS) Registry is designed to provide important and timely insight into the management of acute stroke patients who are on novel oral anticoagulants in community practice. The AHA work in partnership with Duke Clinical Research Institute(DCRI) to promote this Registry. Building upon the existing infrastructure of the nation’s largest ongoing stroke registry (American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines - Stroke), the ARAMIS registry will be a multicenter, prospective, observational study of AIS and ICH patient on home anticoagulation therapy.

The ARAMIS registry is fully observational and there is no treatment or management strategies directed by the study protocol. All treatment decisions are at the discretion of the treatment physicians.

What is CHANGE AFib?

CHANGE AFib is the first pragmatic trial to focus on identifying treatment best practices for first-detected AFib. The trial seeks to determine whether early treatment with the antiarrhythmic drug dronedarone in patients presenting to the hospital with first-detected atrial fibrillation is more effective than usual care for the prevention of unplanned cardiovascular hospitalization or death from any cause, and may result in improved cardiovascular and long-term outcomes. CHANGE AFib is a collaboration between the American Heart Association®, and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), with support from Sanofi US. 

What is the Citizen Scientist Think Tank?

The Citizen Scientist Think Tank™ was developed by The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) with the purpose of incorporating a patient-centered approach to cardiovascular and stroke programs/research. The group is made up of diverse individuals from different parts of the United States who have experienced cardiovascular disease or stroke, or provided care to cardiovascular disease or stroke patients/survivors. These individuals have demonstrated their willingness to break down the walls that exist between patients/caregivers and health care professionals by providing their experienced-based intellect and ideas. These individuals have proven to be a great asset to the AHA/ASA and have contributed so much from the patient/caregiver perspective.

The focus of the Citizen Scientist Think Tank™ is to empower our patients, caregivers, and stakeholders to become Citizen Scientists to help lead research efforts which may lead to better cardiovascular disease and stroke treatment in the future, making the Citizen Scientist Think Tank actionable, grassroots, and progressive.

What is the Get With The Guidelines® Collaborative Research Network?

Current large-scale prospective research is conducted by a relatively small group of investigators, is limited to a relatively small proportion of patients, and is becoming exceedingly expensive. The Get With The Guidelines® Collaborative Research Network (GWTG-CORE) is a collaborative research network built upon American Heart Association's suite of quality improvement registries. These rich data registries hold over 11 million unique patient encounters. Over 2000 hospitals and ambulatory clinics partner with the American Heart Association to improve evidence-based care for stroke, acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation, and outpatient patient care outcomes.

Investigators are invited to collaborate with the AHA in clinical research by joining GWTG-CORE. It's agile, efficient, and it will drive next-generation research in cardiovascular care.

What is MaRISS?

Mild and improving stroke symptoms are common, affecting 42% (Smith 2011) to 47% (George 2009) of all patients, and the great majority is not treated with acute recanalization therapy. However, up to one third of these patients are reported to have poor outcomes (Fisher 2010).

A joint endeavor between AHA and the University of Miami, to evaluate treatment options for patients with Mild and Rapidly Improving Stroke Symptoms (MaRISS) was designed to help address a critical knowledge gap: What are the long-term outcomes of patients with a diagnosis of mild stroke? What do they experience after discharge? This will be the first ever large-scale prospective study to evaluate the long-term outcomes for these patients in a standardized manner.

What is the PCORI Funded Guided Heart Failure Study?

GWTG Interventions to Reduce Disparities in AHF Patients Discharged from the ED (GUIDED HF)

With support from a three-year, $2 million research grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the American Heart Association are teaming up to study heart failure care in the Emergency Department.

What was PROSPER?

Patient-centered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER) was a multi-center study that evaluated post-discharge functional status, disability, depression and quality of life in stroke survivors. Learn more about the PROSPER study here.