MS is a prominent cause of neurological disability. The course of MS is different for each individual, with approximately 6% of people have an aggressive form of MS and accumulating disability at a faster rate.
Preventing disability is a primary goal of MS treatment. More than 13 treatments with varying potency and safety have been registered for MS in Australia. Treatment choices should be personalised, and the right treatment should be used for each person to optimise long-term outcomes. However, the best treatment approach in people with aggressive MS remains uncertain.
In this research project, Dr Izanne Roos will first confirm the reliability of statistical models that predict an individual’s risk of developing aggressive MS at the earliest stages of MS.
The team will then establish whether early use of highly potent therapies can prevent aggressive disease in those at high risk. This will be analysed in data from two large MS registries.
Finally, the study team will generalise these findings to the MS population, by testing whether early use of highly potent therapies can prevent disability, using data from two clinical trials and another large clinical study. This will provide conclusive evidence to confirm if early use of high potency therapy can prevent disability in a broader population of people with MS.
Dr Izanne Roos and her team at the University of Melbourne have made substantial progress in developing more personalised approaches to MS care. Over the past year, they successfully validated an international model that predicts the likelihood of reaching key disease milestones over a 10-year period. Using data from Australian clinics, they confirmed that this Spanish-developed model performs well in local settings, providing a practical tool for individualised risk counselling. and are currently under review for publication.
The team also examined the effects of high-efficacy therapies using data from the international MSBase and French OFSEP registries. Their analysis showed that these therapies reduce relapse rates and slow disability accumulation across all levels of baseline risk, including people with milder disease. These findings highlight the broad benefit of high-efficacy therapies and reinforce the importance of early and sustained treatment to improve long-term outcomes.
The findings were presented at the 2024 European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) congress. The team have since contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications, including a major paper accepted in JAMA Neurology, and contributed to national and international clinical discussions on optimising MS treatment strategies. Dr Roos also established a prospective MS cohort at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to support future precision medicine research. In recognition of her leadership, she was awarded a highly competitive NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship.
Together, these achievements are paving the way for more tailored and proactive care for people with MS, aiming to reduce disability progression and support long-term quality of life.
This foundational research brings us a step closer to treatments that could repair myelin, protect nerve cells, and slow or prevent disability progression in people with MS.
Updated 31 March 2025
$225,000
2022
3 years
Current project
