Canadian Blood Services scientist recognized at International Stroke Conference for “first-in-class” research on stroke treatment

Dr. Heyu Ni, a Canadian Blood Services senior scientist, has received two awards at the American Heart Association’s 2025 International Stroke Conference for a top-ranked abstract of pre-clinical research on treatment for acute ischemic stroke.

Awards for the Paul Dudley White International Scholar are presented annually by the Association to reflect a vision for global excellence in cardiovascular science and medicine. Top-ranked abstract submissions are selected from each country and the primary authors honoured with this award. Dr. Heyu Ni was acknowledged as the recipient of this award for Canadian submissions as well as the recipient of the Stroke Basic Science Award during the conference in Los Angeles, California, in February 2025.

Dr. Ni’s winning abstract is titled A first-in-class humanized antibody fragment targeting platelet glycoprotein Iba: a comprehensive preclinical study of CA1001 for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The research describes a potential drug known as CA1001 which was developed from a monoclonal antibody and patented by Canadian Blood Services ten years ago. This potential drug has been further developed to target a specific receptor on the surface of platelets known as glycoprotein Iba. Platelets are the component of blood which play an important role in clotting and glycoprotein Iba is responsible for binding von Willebrand factor and other factors. When functioning appropriately, these factors help platelets initiate clotting to stop bleeding when an injury occurs; however, when a blood clot (called a thrombus) forms inappropriately (known as thrombosis) it can cause serious health issues such as heart attack and stroke. An acute ischemic stroke is caused when thrombosis causes an occlusion (or blockage) in a vessel that prevents proper blood flow to the brain.

While this platelet glycoprotein has been of interest for thrombosis research for decades, this is the first time a potential drug targeting the specific glycoprotein Iba receptor has been developed.

Dr. Ni’s abstract outlines the in vitro and in vivo models used in the lab to test the extent and duration of the drug’s effect, along with toxicology studies that investigated rates of adverse effects to understand safety and tolerability. Dr. Sladjana Slavkovic and Dr. Miguel Neves are co-authors on this research, having received Canadian Blood Services Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards while working in Dr. Ni's lab.

Says Ni, “As glycoprotein Iba- von Willebrand factor interaction initiates the early thrombus formation and mediates the late vessel occlusion, this new CA1001 may have great potential in controlling heart attack and stroke.”

This research is in a preclinical stage, meaning further clinical trials would be required before wider therapeutic use of the proposed drug; however, Dr. Ni is hopeful. 

“As scientists, we are looking at what is not yet known and we work very hard to solve issues and find information to fill the knowledge and technique gaps; that is the importance of research!” Dr. Ni says. “Current prevention, diagnosis and therapy could be greatly increased by research, particularly in the area of stroke and thrombosis. With this research, we hope that it could markedly decrease mortality and morbidity due to stroke in Canada and worldwide.”  

Dr. Ni joined Canadian Blood Services in 2001 and is also a scientist at the Keenan Centre for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto. The Ni lab at St. Michael’s undertakes discovery research as part of Canadian Blood Services’ Innovation & Portfolio Management team with a focus on platelet biology, immunohematology, hemostasis and thrombosis. This research aims to help develop new diagnostic methods and optimize treatments for clotting disorders as well as alloimmune and autoimmune disorders.  

• Read more about the 2025 International Stroke Conference awards: 11 leading stroke scientists receive top honors for career and research contributions | American Heart Association

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The opinions reflected in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Canadian Blood Services nor do they reflect the views of Health Canada or any other funding agency.