Over recent decades, the diagnosis of MS has improved with the inclusion of brain and spinal cord scans and lumbar puncture tests (“cerebrospinal fluid markers”) in the diagnostic criteria. However, there is still no blood test for MS, so diagnosing MS remains time-consuming, preventing us from treating MS at the earliest stages. To develop a blood test, we need a better understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of MS. This will also help find and treat the underlying mechanisms triggering and/or driving MS disease.
Advanced technologies are now able to measure thousands of molecules to help find a marker of MS in the blood. Studies of potential blood markers of MS include proteins (proteomics), products of chemical reactions in the body (metabolites; metabolomics) and lipids (lipidomics) – together these are called “multi-omics” measurements.
In this study, Dr Lin will combine multi-omics results with extensive clinical information to examine whether these molecules could help diagnose MS, and how they contribute to MS risk and progression. He will also look at genetics, to see how this impacts the molecules found in the blood in MS.
Through a better understanding of the genes and molecules that change in MS, this work could help find new blood markers of MS to detect, monitor and treat MS
Using blood samples collected in the AusLong Study, Dr Lin and his team measured thousands of different molecules that reflect many biological processes. With support from an MS Australia Incubator Grant, Dr Lin also analysed collections of blood proteins (“blood signatures”) from this group.
Dr Lin and his team have developed a way to analyse the new data. Early results found a set of MS-related molecules that are linked to MS risk and disease progression.
Over the next year, Dr Lin and his team will use this new data to better understand how these molecules are linked to MS progression over time.
Dr Lin is currently preparing two manuscripts for publication and has submitted three manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals.
Updated 31 March 2026
$225,000
2024
3 years
Current project
