The Australasian Stroke Trials Network (ASTN) is a special interest group of the Stroke Society of Australasia, which first commenced in 1996 and now includes 35 centres in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The ASTN is the peak coordinating body for stroke trial centres in Australasia and facilitates professional interaction between stroke trialists and the pharmaceutical industry. In late 2007 Dr Mark Parsons (Newcastle) succeeded Professor Christopher Bladin (Melbourne) and Dr Denis Crimmins (East Gosford) as chair of the ASTN Executive Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA).

The ASTN was set up to facilitate and coordinate stroke research trials in Australasia, covering both industry funded and investigator driven research. A key role of the ASTN is to facilitate communication between centres concerning new and ongoing trials. The concept was based on the development of the Canadian Stroke Consortium and stroke trial networks in North America and Europe. There are strong collaborative links with the Canadian Stoke Consortium with respect to both sponsored commercial studies and investigator-driven studies.

The ASTN formally meets at each Annual Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia and has an active communication network now supported by Neuroscience Trials Australia.

Aims of the Network

The chief aim of the network is to ensure a coordinated approach to involvement of Australasian clinical investigators in international stroke trials and to facilitate communication and collaboration between centres in our region.