- Emeritus Professor Michael Pender pioneered groundbreaking work on the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in MS
- In 2024 he became a Member of the Order of Australia
- Professor Pender shared highlights of a career dedicated to finding the cause and cure of MS.
In 2024, Emeritus Professor Michael Pender was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to medicine, particularly neurology and multiple sclerosis (MS) research, and to tertiary education. We asked Professor Pender about the research journey and the highlights of this luminous career.
What led you to become an MS neurologist and researcher?
“As a trainee physician, neurology fascinated me. With such a diverse variety of conditions presenting, it was a strong challenge to understand and diagnose neurological disease.
I first encountered the MS brain as a med student studying pathology in 1972 and was intrigued by the multiple discrete lesions. Here was a relatively common condition, causing a vast array of symptoms and signs, but the cause was completely unknown.
Following my PhD, I was drawn to MS research because of the spectrum of disciplines involved: physiology, pathology, immunology, virology and clinical neurology. On the human side, I loved working with my patients and their carers, clinical teams and MS researchers towards finding a cure for people with MS.”
What were the career highlights?
“It had been known for some time that there was a strong association between EBV infection and the development of MS. I read intensively about the intricacies of EBV biology and the immune response to the virus.”
EBV infects the B cells (antibody-making cells) of the immune system and is normally kept until tight control by killer T cells which destroy EBV-infected cells.
“In 2003, I published a new hypothesis on the cause of MS and other chronic autoimmune diseases. I proposed that, in people with defective killer T cell function, EBV infects autoreactive (self-reactive) B cells that target the body’s own tissues. These EBV-infected autoreactive B cells accumulate in the target organ (the organ containing the targeted tissue) and facilitate an autoimmune attack on the organ. This leads to the development of an autoimmune disease in that organ (for example, the brain in MS). The hypothesis led to predictions, including the prediction that EBV-specific T cell therapy would be beneficial in the treatment of chronic autoimmune diseases.”
The hypothesis led Professor Pender to collaborate with viral immunologist, Professor Rajiv Khanna, to use EBV-specific T cell therapy in the treatment of MS. In this treatment, blood collected from the patient was used to grow killer T cells specifically targeting EBV.
“We treated our first patient in 2013 with encouraging results. This led to us to conducting the first clinical trial of an EBV-specific cellular therapy in MS. The trial found that the treatment was safe and showed promise in reducing MS symptoms and signs. This was a definite career highlight.”
Professor Pender collaborated with Atara Biotherapeutics who developed an EBV-specific therapy using the same principle, this time using cells from people without MS or other autoimmune diseases Unfortunately, the outcome of a larger clinical trial of this therapy in MS was negative.
Do you think targeting EBV remains an important strategy for preventing and/or treating MS?
“There are several possible explanations why the Atara trial had a negative outcome. However, the results of the Atara trial do not detract from the possibility that targeting EBV in MS may lead to effective prevention and treatment”.
Internationally, recent landmark studies have added to mounting evidence for a pivotal role of EBV in the development of MS.
In 2023, the Australian Medical Research Future Fund announced a $12 million investment in EBV research in MS, including two MS clinical trials and three fundamental research projects on which MS Australia has partnered.
Beyond Australia, trials of antiviral therapies targeting EBV are in progress or in preparation.
Australian researchers are also among several groups worldwide developing EBV vaccines. Given that EBV is a major risk factor for developing MS, an effective vaccine that prevents EBV infection may also have an important role in preventing MS.
How have donors to MS research impacted your work?
“Funding from MS Australia and MS Queensland was essential to my work on EBV in MS.
This was especially the case when the work was in its infancy – we were testing a new idea that, by definition, didn’t have a strong direct evidence base.
The work could not have happened without funding from these organisations who supported innovative science, and their generous donors who understood the importance of MS research.”
Any final thoughts?
“I would encourage everyone – people living with MS, researchers, and donors to MS research – to persevere in the hope that there will be effective prevention and treatment for MS.”
