To End MS, We Walk MS
(RALEIGH-DURHAM)—The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has committed over $25 million to support an expected 60 new MS research projects, as well as 7 MS clinical training awards. These are part of a comprehensive research strategy aimed at stopping MS, restoring function that has been lost, and ending the disease forever – for every single person with MS. More than 3.6 million of these funds are currently invested within our Chapter’s area, where a new grant of more than $40,000 has been recently awarded to a scientist in the Raleigh-Durham area.
This financial commitment is the latest in the Society’s relentless research efforts to move us closer to a world free of MS, and part of a projected investment of over $54 million in 2016 alone to support more than 380 new and ongoing studies around the world. The Society pursues all promising paths, while focusing on priority areas including progressive MS, nervous system repair, gene/environmental risk factors and wellness and lifestyle.
Just a few of the new cutting-edge research projects include an ambitious project at Harvard and the University of California, San Francisco that tracks a group of people with MS over time and creates a platform to enable researchers worldwide to identify factors that drive MS progression; a clinical trial in Germany and the U.S. testing an online program to treat MS-related depression to increase; wellness; a study at Ohio State University looking at whether low vitamin D in early life increases the risk of developing MS; and a Collaborative MS Center at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota focusing on whether abnormal energy production in nerve cells contributes to nerve degeneration, and strategies to correct it in MS. The Society is also launching 7 clinical training awards to increase the number of MS specialists who can provide the highest quality of care to people with MS.
“The comprehensive nature of these new research investments is very exciting, and intended to answer questions that address the unmet needs of people with MS,” noted Kristina McGraw, President of the Society’s Greater Carolinas Chapter.
Multiple sclerosis disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. Here in the Triangle, MS affects nearly 3,000 families. Worldwide, over 2.3 million people live with the unpredictable challenges of multiple sclerosis.
“We are funding scientific breakthroughs that will propel the knowledge we need to end MS and identify everyday solutions that change the lives of people with all forms of the disease,” says McGraw.
To find the best research with the most promise, the National MS Society relies on more than 130 world-class scientists who volunteer their time to carefully evaluate hundreds of proposals every year. This rigorous evaluation process assures that Society funds fuel research that delivers results in the shortest time possible.
The Society will fund a new project to a scientist in the Raleigh-Durham area:
- Mari Shinohara of Duke University received a pilot award grant of $44,000 to explore an immune system molecule that protects mice from developing a MS-like disease, for clues to stopping the attack in MS.
“Without the support of the National MS Society, we would not be able to pursue these critical leads,” said Dr. Mari Shinohara, Society Grantee and Lead Investigator of the project, “Unexpected role of a C-type lectin receptor to protect animals from EAE.”
There are FDA-approved therapies that can impact the underlying disease course in people with the more common forms of MS. However, none of these can stop progression or reverse the damage to restore function. National MS Society-funded research paved the way for existing therapies – none of which existed just several decades ago – and continues to be a driving force of MS research.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
The Society mobilizes people and resources so that everyone affected by MS can live their best lives as we stop MS in its tracks, restore what has been lost and end MS forever. To fulfill this mission, the Society funds cutting-edge research, drives change through advocacy, facilitates professional education, collaborates with MS organizations around the world, and provides programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. In 2014 alone, through our comprehensive nationwide network of programs and services, the Society devoted $122.2 million to help more than one million individuals connect to the people, information and resources they need. To move closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested $50.2 million to support more than 380 new and ongoing research projects around the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. Learn more at nationalMSsociety.org. Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344- 4867.
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