Stroke program review group: an interim report.

The Stroke Program Review Group (SPRG) met for the first time in 2001 to identify and prioritize scientific needs and opportunities in stroke, and to consider strategies to address them. Out of this meeting came a set of scientific and resource recommendations (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/find_people/groups/stroke_prg/index.htm) including the recommendation to review progress after 5 years. In September 2006, the NINDS convened a second SPRG of prominent scientists, clinicians, industry leaders, and patient advocates to discuss progress since the first SPRG and to examine new opportunities in light of more recent advances. The report of the second SPRG meeting is found at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/find_people/groups/stroke_prg/09_2006_stroke_prg_report.htm. In this brief interim report, we list and summarize progress in each of the investigational domains outlined in the SPRG with an emphasis on those advances directly resulting from NINDS-funded research. Also listed are the top 2 or 3 research priorities for the next 5-year cycle for each investigational theme. What emerges from the first 2 reports is a clear set of priorities that have since been complemented by exciting advances that are likely to be the focus of a follow-up report from the next SPRG in 2010.