Jan 9, 2026
Deans do research, too: College of Health Professions’ Darragh continues work on pediatric stroke rehabilitation trial
Infants and toddlers in intensive therapy are at the center of a groundbreaking national stroke study that has the potential to shape pediatric rehabilitation for children with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke.
Amy Darragh, Ph.D., dean of the VCU College of Health Professions, is part of the leadership team behind I-ACQUIRE, the first Phase 3 clinical trial in pediatric rehabilitation funded through the National Institutes of Health’s StrokeNet. The multi-site study tests whether intensive, pediatric rehabilitation can improve arm and hand function for children who experienced perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS), which affects about 3,400 children a year
The trial enrolled children ages 8 to 36 months with PAIS and hemiparesis, or weakness on one side of the body. The intervention uses pediatric constraint-induced movement therapy, or CIMT, in which a lightweight cast is placed on the child’s less-affected arm and the therapist engages the child in a highly-specialized intervention that reinforces and shapes upper extremity behaviors through meaningful and age-appropriate everyday activities.
CIMT is well established to treat conditions like adult stroke and hemiplegic cerebral palsy, but I-ACQUIRE is specifically focused on whether the approach is effective for infants and toddlers with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke, which affects about 3,400 children a year.
In the trial, children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a moderate dose of I-ACQUIRE (three hours a day), a high dose (six hours a day), both delivered in a home or homelike setting, or usual care. Families in the usual care group were later offered I-ACQUIRE CIMT if they chose.
“Our highly trained therapists spend a substantial amount of time with the children and their families,” Darragh said. “They understand how to partner with families and ensure the therapy is engaging, age-appropriate and fun.”
The I-ACQUIRE study brings together a core scientific team that has worked collaboratively since 2015, alongside a parent advisory council and a nationwide, interdisciplinary network of 15 sites representing families, therapists, physicians, psychologists, biostatisticians and other experts.
“Working with this collaborative, engaged and interdisciplinary team is incredibly rewarding, and I can't imagine running a trial of this complexity without it,” said Darragh, who is trained as an occupational therapist.
A defining feature is the I-ACQUIRE Parent Advisory Council, comprised of family members who shaped the trial from the beginning through their engagement in all aspects of the study. Darragh, as a scientific liaison to the council, said it has informed and improved the study in immeasurable ways, and demonstrates the importance of true community partnerships in designing meaningful and impactful clinical trials.
“Families helped us form the trial, the study processes and our understanding of the family experience. It was an incredible honor to work with our parent council members to improve the study,” Darragh said. “In pediatric research you have to be family-centric and engage families as scientific partners in the study if you want to do the science well.”
Darragh also co-directed the study’s National Assessment Center, which trained all study assessors and coordinated outcome measure implementation nationwide. Darragh joined VCU as dean in 2024 and brought her research to Virginia from The Ohio State University, where she was director of its School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and vice dean in the College of Medicine.
At an R1 university like VCU with a rapidly expanding research portfolio, “it’s important for a dean to stay connected to the science,” she said. And while that may mean a less intensive focus on research, she has continued writing grants and pursuing funding because it keeps her current and grounded in the work that college faculty do.
“I have the privilege of leading exceptionally talented researchers and scientists,” she said, “and to support their success, it’s important to stay living in their world.”
For Darragh, the goal of research is clear: “I hope our current and future work can help families make informed decisions about care for their children. If we can impact a child’s function and participation in life activities, then we’ve done our job.”
Note: Primary results from I-ACQUIRE are embargoed until Feb. 6, when they will be presented at the American Heart Association’s International Stroke Conference in New Orleans. The trial was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health (grant U01NS106655). The study’s core scientific team includes principal investigators Sharon Ramey, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech) and Warren Lo, MD (The Ohio State University), with co-investigators Darragh, Stephanie Deluca, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech), Jill Heathcock, Ph.D. (Ohio State) and Craig Ramey, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech). The study also includes a highly engaged Parent Advisory Council, a multidisciplinary executive steering committee, and an interdisciplinary network of 15 sites across the country.