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Progressive MS Alliance Grant Funding
Newswise The International Progressive MS Alliance has awarded its first round of 22 research grants to investigators in 9 countries, with the goal of removing barriers to developing treatments for progressive MS. The Alliance is a worldwide collaborative focused on finding solutions to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis that have so far eluded the scientific community.
This first round of funding launches an ambitious program that will cumulatively invest 22 million over the next five years and will forge international collaborative research networks -- leveraging research already underway and stimulating new research through the Alliances significant funding programs.
Following is a summary of each project. To learn more visit http://www.ProgressiveMSAlliance.org or http://newswise.com/images/ee/article_supp/Alliance.pdf
AUSTRALIA Title: Limiting axonal degeneration in a model of multiple sclerosis Principal Investigator: Steven Petratos, Ph.D. Institution: Monash University Amount Awarded: 74,326 Summary: Nerve fiber damage is thought to underlie progressive disability in MS. This team has been working to understand the biological processes that lead to nerve degeneration. They have found evidence that one protein, Nogo-A, may play a role in this damage, and they have also found a possible strategy for protecting against it. They are now proposing to investigate this further by deleting this protein from nerve cells in mouse models, and then observing the effects starting at the onset of MS-like disease. Then will then attempt to block Nogo-A using novel strategies for delivering agents to the brain and spinal cord. What does this mean for people living with progressive MS? This study may yield a new strategy for developing a therapy that limits damage to nerve cells and stops the progression of MS.
BELGIUM Title: Towards a shared data repository to enhance the standards of rehabilitation in MS: Feasibility, capacity building and proof-of-concept on exercise therapy & mobility measures Principal Investigator: Peter Feys, Ph.D. Institution: Hasselt University Amount Awarded: 74,985 Summary: Exercise therapy is a potentially effective treatment for people with MS. However, despite an explosion of research on physical rehabilitation and exercise, it is not yet clear whether beneficial effects are equally present in progressive compared to relapsing-remitting type of MS. One issue has been the small size of studies. This project proposes to prepare the construction of a large, shared data repository that would be established by retrieving data from published studies and new data entered by clinical and research centers. This would enable researchers to investigate questions on the effects of specific exercise interventions and settings, or on the appropriateness of different outcome measures. Ultimately, this will lead to improved standards in MS rehabilitation practice. What does this mean for people living with progressive MS? This endeavor could enhance the ability to determine the best rehabilitation and exercise interventions for people with progressive MS, and provide the data needed to advocate for its widespread use to improve lives.
CANADA Title: T-cell activation molecules and progressive MS Principal Investigator: David Haegert, M.D. Institution: McGill University Amount Awarded: 74,739 Summary: Early in the course of MS it is difficult to know whose disease will progress and whose will not. This team proposes to identify and test potential biomarkers molecular signatures in the blood to determine if they can be used to predict whether someone with MS will show rapid or slow disease progression. They will test blood samples from people with MS who participated in clinical trials in the past, and whose course of disease progression is known. If the biomarker is indeed increased in people with rapidly progressing MS and not in those whose MS is more benign, this biomarker could be developed as a test to predict disease progression and identify people who need more aggressive treatment. What does this mean for people living with progressive MS? Finding a biomarker that can be tested in blood samples of people with MS could help predict the rate of disease progression and help determine the most appropriate therapy.
ITALY Title: Can the degree of meningeal inflammation and cortical pathology be used to stratify early progressive MS patients? Principal Investigator: Massimiliano Calabrese, M.D., Ph.D. Institution: University of Verona Amount Awarded: 68,673 Summary: This team has previously shown that the amount of damage to the grey matter on the surface of the brain in early stages of MS associates with an increased chance that the future disease course will be more severe. Now they are analyzing the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and using MRI brain scanning to examine brain tissue from people with progressive MS obtained via autopsy. They are examining types and quantities of messenger proteins and molecules that may be associated with damage seen by MRI scanning. This combined approach may identify both the molecules and brain imaging signals that predict a more severe disease, so that neurologists can recognize and address a more severe course of MS before quality of life is severely affected. What does this mean for people living with progressive MS? Being able to address and vigorously treat a severe course of MS as early as possible is crucial to stopping progression in its tracks.
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Progressive MS Alliance Grant Funding