In multiple sclerosis (MS), the body’s immune system attacks myelin, the protective coating around the nerves, leaving them exposed and vulnerable to damage. While many treatments aim to slow or prevent this damage, there are currently no therapies that can repair the brain once damage has occurred.
In Dr Samantha Barton’s laboratory, researchers have developed an advanced model using human stem cells to grow 'mini brains' in the lab. These mini brains contain myelin, and the team is a world leader in generating them.
This project aims to understand which genes are important for producing myelin in these mini brains. By identifying these genes, the team hopes to find new drugs that could promote myelin repair, with the long-term goal of helping to repair damage in people living with MS.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common acquired neurological disease in young Australians, affecting over 37,700 people. There is as yet no cure, and diagnosis often occurs years after symptoms begin.
Two key factors are strongly linked to the development of MS: infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a very common virus that infects over 90% of adults globally, and certain inherited immune genes known as HLA class II genes. However, it is still unclear how these factors interact to contribute to MS.
Dr Carla Proietti and her team have identified a specific pattern of EBV-related antibodies that is much higher in people living with MS than in people without MS or those with other autoimmune diseases. This pattern is also found in cerebrospinal fluid – the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord – suggesting that the immune response to EBV may be active in the brain in MS.
This project will investigate whether inherited HLA risk genes influence which EBV proteins the immune system targets, and whether this leads to harmful immune responses in the brain and spinal cord in MS. The team will analyse existing blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples from people with MS using advanced protein profiling technologies.
This research will help determine how genetic risk factors and EBV interact in MS. It may also identify specific viral targets linked to genetic risk, providing a clearer understanding of disease mechanisms. In the longer term, these findings could support the development of improved tools for MS diagnosis and disease monitoring.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) can damage the spinal cord. This damage is strongly linked to physical disability and disease progression. However, current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are not sensitive enough to reliably detect small changes in the spinal cord over time. This makes it harder for doctors to accurately monitor disease activity and progression. Dr Koren says people with MS often express frustration that their MS is worsening but there is no clear evidence of this on their MRI scan. This project aims to improve how spinal cord damage is detected and measured in people with MS.
Dr Tal Koren will analyse existing MRI scans from people with MS who have had spinal cord imaging over several years. He will measure areas of damage and changes in spinal cord size over time. These scans will be used to develop and train an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can automatically detect and track spinal cord damage across multiple timepoints.
He will then recruit adults with MS who are already undergoing routine MRI scans. In addition to the standard scans, participants will receive a newer, high-resolution 3D MRI scan of the spinal cord. He will compare the standard scans with the 3D scans to determine whether the new method can detect more lesions or more subtle changes, and to test the AI model. He will also examine how these imaging findings relate to clinical disability.
Overall, this study aims to develop more accurate and automated ways for tracking spinal cord damage in MS, which could improve how disease progression is monitored over time. More sensitive tools also help decide whether treatment is working effectively or should be revisited.
Associate Professor Justin Rubio and his team recently published research showing that DNA from nerve cells located in multiple sclerosis (MS) brain lesions mutates at an accelerated rate compared to other nerve cells. As strong inflammation occurs in MS brain lesions, it is thought that this inflammation is somehow involved in causing mutations to nerve cell DNA, which is likely to affect the function of nerve cells and their viability.
An important unanswered question is whether inflammation is the cause of the increased mutation rate in nerve cells, or whether the nerve cells have a higher mutation rate that then triggers inflammation and the damage associated with it.
To determine whether inflammation is the cause or an effect of the accelerated mutation rate in nerve cells, this project will investigate mutation rates in DNA from cells in lesion biopsy samples from people at an early stage of their MS course. The team will then compare the mutation rate of cells from these early-stage MS lesion biopsy samples with those from post-mortem MS lesions from people who had late-stage (progressive) MS. This comparison will reveal differences in mutation patterns between early- and late-stage MS lesions, including any genes impacted more than others, and will help determine if the accelerated mutation rate is already present in cells from early-MS lesions.
Outcomes from this project will transform our understanding of the relationship between inflammation in the brain, changes in DNA that builds up in individual brain cells, and MS progression.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. As people with MS live longer, it is important to understand how ageing affects the course of the disease. Women with MS face particular challenges during midlife and menopause, but this has not been well studied.
Dr Jessica Redmond will explore how ageing and menopause affect symptoms, thinking and memory, and quality of life in people with MS. She and her team will use two studies to investigate this:
Dr Redmond hopes to find patterns that show who is more likely to have worsening symptoms over time. This could help doctors better support women with MS during key stages of life, such as menopause. These patterns may also point to new ways of predicting and managing disease progression. The overall goal is to improve care and outcomes for people with MS as they get older.
People with MS have helped design this research, making sure it focuses on real-world concerns such as fatigue, memory problems, and everyday function.
Problems with balance can be a significant issue for some people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Poor balance makes it harder to do everyday activities, such as socialising, working, hobbies, or staying active. It is also closely linked to a high risk of injury from falls.
Many factors can cause balance problems in MS, including changes to the sense of feeling (sensation) in the feet and how the leg muscles work. Most people with MS do not receive treatment for their foot sensation problems and there are few options available.
Associate Professor Anna Hatton and her team have partnered with experts in medical technology to design sensory shoe insoles that provide extra sensation to the feet, aiming to improve balance. The team has talked to people with MS in the United Kingdom and Australia - exploring their foot health concerns, balance, and mobility issues - to guide insole development. They listened to feedback from people with MS who took part in the team’s earlier studies and used their ideas to improve the design of the insoles to better meet their needs.
Associate Professor Hatton aims to find out if these sensory insoles can help improve balance compared to standard insoles. She and her team will assess how people with MS perform balance tasks that copy situations where falls are more likely. The team will record nerve and muscle activity in people’s legs after they have worn the insoles for four weeks. They will talk to study participants about their experience wearing the insoles and listen to their recommendations to make sure the insoles are practical and easy to use.
The ultimate goal is to use insole technology to improve balance enough to reduce the risk of falls. The team will work together with people with MS to create a research plan to explore this in a future study.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the myelin in the brain. Myelin is the fatty layer around neurons (nerve cells) that act like insulation on electrical wire and helps neurons send messages through the brain effectively.
Building and maintaining myelin requires lots of energy, and that makes it vulnerable to damage from inflammation and free radicals (unstable molecules that can affect healthy cells).
Copper is an essential metal that helps cells produce energy and antioxidants, which helps to maintain myelin health and protect cells from damage. When copper cannot properly enter the brain, myelin becomes damaged, suggesting it may play an important role in MS.
While the cause of MS isn’t known just yet, it is believed to involve both genetic and environmental risk factors. Among the greatest risk factors for MS is prior infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Another risk factor is vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, patients with MS are likely to have fewer ‘good bacteria’ in their gut, and more ‘bad bacteria’. This research project will test the hypothesis that these three environmental factors have something in common – they interact with copper.
There is new evidence that copper absorption depends on a healthy assortment of gut bacteria, and vitamin D helps incorporate copper into cellular antioxidants. Additionally, new evidence suggests that if copper is disrupted, myelin may ‘look like’ Epstein-Barr virus to the immune system resulting in the immune system attacking the myelin. Historically, this has been difficult to study, but due to new technical advances it is now possible to take images of copper in the brain.
Dr Lins and her team aim to determine if copper is at the core of MS environmental risk factors, with hopes this will lead to new treatment and prevention strategies.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory condition of the central nervous system (CNS) that develops due to both genetic and environmental factors. Amongst the known environmental risk factors is infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and other herpesviruses. EBV is a common herpesvirus that affects up to 90% of people worldwide and is the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever).
EBV has been strongly linked to the development of MS and is thought to play a role in how the disease progresses over time. However, even though these connections are known, the biological mechanisms behind this link are not fully understood.
To better understand this link, the project will use data from three large Australian studies: the Ausimmune Study, Ausimmune Longitudinal Study, and PrevANZ trial. This includes blood tests of genetics; which genes are switched on and off in the blood cells; and immune responses - to both herpesviruses and brain proteins (autoimmune responses).
This project aims to examine:
Mr Eisner and his research team aim to better understand the impact of EBV on MS onset and progression, with the goal of helping to tailor treatments to each individual person to slow the disease progression.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain and spinal cord, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, vision problems, and difficulties with movement or cognition. Although current treatments can reduce relapses and slow progression, there is no cure, and many individuals eventually develop more severe forms of the disease.
Research has shown that MS is influenced by a large number of genetic differences (also known as variants) that are commonly found in people living with MS but are much rarer in people who do not have MS. Most of these genetic changes do not directly affect genes themselves. Instead, they occur in parts of our DNA that control when and where genes are switched on, particularly in immune cells like B cells. Understanding the consequences of these genetic variants is very challenging, especially because each one might only have a small effect on its own. Even more difficult is the question of how combinations of these variants might interact to cause disease, since experimental tools to study these combined effects have not yet been developed.
In this study, Dr King and his team aim to test how over 100 MS-associated genetic variants affect gene activity and immune cell function. They will also explore how combinations of risk variants influence cell behaviour, using innovative methods designed to overcome longstanding technical barriers. By mapping how MS-associated genetic differences - both individually and in combination - change B cell function, this project will uncover key pathways that contribute to MS. These insights will lay a critical foundation for developing future therapies that target the underlying genetic factors involved in the disease, offering new hope for more effective and personalised treatment strategies.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that damages the protective covering of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to problems with movement, sensation, and other functions. In MS, blood flow to the brain is reduced, and this may happen even before symptoms appear, possibly due to genetic factors.
This is important because blood carries oxygen and glucose, which nerve cells and oligodendrocytes (the cells that make myelin) need to survive. Blood flow becomes even more critical after myelin is damaged, as the nerves work harder and need more oxygen and glucose to function properly.
This project aims to protect nerve cells and reduce disability by understanding how a person’s genes affect brain blood vessels. To achieve this, they will grow two types of blood vessel cells, called pericytes and endothelial cells, from stem cells stored in the MS Stem Cell Biobank. These stem cells come from the blood of people with and without MS.
In growing these blood vessel cells, the team will explore:
A key goal of this project is to find points on the blood vessels that could be targeted with drugs to improve blood flow to the brain. Professor Young and her team hope to show that even after MS develops, supporting blood vessel health could help repair myelin and protect nerve cells from damage.
