 Ischemic stroke is one of the top causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Despite a great deal of effort to improve outcomes of patients with ischemic cerebral strokes, the lack of a bona fide animal model representative of cerebral ischemia in man makes the study of the pathological processes involved difficult. Additionally, the subtle but significant differences between biology of animal models and the biology of humans make translatability of animal results to humans difficult. 