MS Research Grants Announcement

Dr Jessica Fletcher’s research focuses on finding ways to repair the brain in MS, where current treatments cannot fully stop disease progression. This project aims to boost the activity of myelin-producing cells, called oligodendrocytes, to encourage new myelin growth.

Dr Fletcher’s team will look for specific molecules inside oligodendrocytes that play a role in the myelin repair process. They will focus on a key molecule called Olig2, which controls whether a cell can make myelin and how much it will produce. By adjusting the activity of Olig2, the team hopes to stimulate myelin regeneration.

The goal is to develop precise treatments that target only the cells involved in myelin repair, avoiding other parts of the body.

This approach could lead to more effective and safer therapies to repair myelin in people with MS.

MS is a chronic condition caused by harmful immune responses that attack the body’s own nerve cells. How these immune responses are controlled is still not fully understood. However, recent evidence suggests that certain immune cells, including neutrophils and T cells, play important roles in this process. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that typically help protect against infection, but in MS, they may contribute to nerve cell damage. T cells are another type of immune cell involved in coordinating the body’s immune response, and one type, called pathogenic Th17 cells, is known to contribute to MS.

Dr Iain Comerford and his team are investigating how neutrophils interact with T cells in MS to drive inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. Their preliminary findings in a model of MS suggest that neutrophils may prompt T cells to adopt a “pro-inflammatory” profile that worsens MS-related damage. This project will study the specific signals between neutrophils and T cells to better understand how this harmful interaction occurs.

By identifying the molecules involved in neutrophil and T cell communication, Dr. Comerford’s team hopes to reveal new therapeutic targets that could reduce inflammation in MS, potentially leading to treatments that limit immune cell damage and protect nerve cells in people with MS.

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, such as mild neurological or cognitive issues such as migraines or confusion, occur within the general population as well, which can make it difficult to identify as a symptom of MS.

By analysing large datasets and identifying specific patterns, Dr Yazar and her research team hope to help doctors identify MS more accurately in its early stages.

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 higher risk, such as those with unusual findings on their brain scans.

By gaining a clearer understanding of MS during its early stages, doctors may be able to diagnose and treat patients sooner, potentially preventing long-term damage and improving their quality of life. This research may also open the door to new preventative measures for MS in the future.