Cerebrovascular research: the opportunity has never been better.

need attention? Are they controllable? The period of acute hypoxia is critical in determining the eventual extent of cellular damage. There are still very few methods of medical-surgical intervention that have been demonstrated to influence the immediate course of the evolving neuronal pathology. One of the major issues is the timing of intervention. Does increasing cerebral blood flow during the period of hypoxia and the related deficit in autoregulation have beneficial or deleterious consequences? Do the medical and surgical therapies that are presently widely used have significant impact on the acute course of the disease or on its long-term consequences? Restitution of function is the goal for those who recover from the acute episode. Do methods to enhance neuronal sprouting and axonal regeneration offer promises to reestablish or circumvent destroyed pathways? Can neuronal implants influence return of function in sensory or motor tracts? Do neural prostheses offer practical methods for electronic substitution of injured biological pathways? Each of these questions of clinical significance is surrounded by a host of questions that require information obtainable only from the basic science laboratory. Answerable questions can now be posed by the cerebrovascular investigator both in basic and clinical areas. Research tools have been developed that provide the methodologies for addressing these questions. Competition for research funds is intense, but funds are available for high quality research. In many ways, the opportunity for important advances lies in our understanding of the forces that regulate cerebral circulation and neuronal metabolism. The outlook for the development of improved methods of diagnosis and therapy has never been greater. "A leader is a person who can place himself at a time in the future and from that position govern his actions accordingly."