focus area: Causes and Prevention
funding type: Fellowship
project type: Investigator Led Research
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease that can cause nerve damage even before noticeable symptoms appear. For doctors, this early phase is like solving a puzzle with missing pieces – they see unexplained brain abnormalities but lack a full picture. This project aims to fill in these gaps using advanced blood tests, patient information, electronic health records and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
Dr Seyhan Yazar and her team are focusing on the ‘prodromal phase’ of MS. This is the stage where vague symptoms may occur but don’t yet meet the criteria for a diagnosis of MS. These symptoms, which can include mild neurological or cognitive issues, also occur within the general population, making it difficult to identify as symptoms of MS.
One major goal of the project is to find signs in the blood, called biomarkers, that could reveal MS before typical symptoms appear. When combined with brain scans, these biomarkers could help doctors diagnose MS earlier, especially in people who are at high risk.
This improved understanding of MS during its early stages could allow earlier treatment, helping to prevent long-term damage, improve quality of life, and open the door to new preventative measures for MS in the future.
Thus far, the research has moved significantly closer to identifying the earliest “red flags” of MS before a formal diagnosis is made.
Dr Yazar has made exciting progress using AI to analyse Australian medical records. The study of records in South-Western Sydney successfully identified patterns of increased healthcare use in the years leading up to an MS diagnosis, particularly in younger people and women. This suggests that there are detectable early signals in the healthcare system that could identify people at a high risk of MS.
Despite initial challenges, the team has successfully enrolled two-thirds of the target cohort, including individuals with early MS and those with radiologically isolated syndrome (MRI findings consistent with MS but not yet fulfilling diagnostic criteria for MS).
The team has also developed a highly specific control group who have never been exposed to Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), which is a known risk factor for MS onset. Comparing this group with people with early MS will help us better understand how the immune system behaves at the early stages of MS.
Dr Yazar and her team are also using advanced technology capable of measuring cells individually to map the behaviour of the immune cells in these groups. This will allow more precise identification of specific biological signals linked to MS .
The research program continues to grow, with Dr Yazar being promoted to Lab Head in early 2026, and additional team members supporting this work.
Yazar S, Schwab N, Sanderson NSR, Massey J. The EBV-autoimmunity axis: mechanistic insights in SLE, MS and PSC. Immunol Cell Biol. 2026 May 5. doi: 10.1111/imcb.70127.
Updated 31 March 2026Â
$225,000
2025
3 years
Current project
