Each year MS Australia holds a grant round to select only the top MS research projects to fund. Further information about the comprehensive grant review process is available here.
The 35 new projects address MS Australia’s priorities for MS research, including causes and prevention, better treatments and cures via repair and regeneration of cells. The projects are driving groundbreaking research in key areas, from using cutting-edge technologies to identify biomarkers for earlier MS detection, to developing innovative treatments for motor symptoms, promoting myelin repair and exploring lifestyle impacts.
Dr Jessica Fletcher’s research focuses on finding ways to repair the brain in multiple sclerosis (MS), where current treatments cannot fully stop disease progression. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective coating around nerves in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, called myelin. 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 development of effective and safe therapies to repair myelin in people with MS.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease caused by harmful immune responses that attack the body’s own nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. 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, contributes to MS.
Dr Iain Comerford and his team have explored how neutrophils interact with Th17 cells in MS to drive inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. Their earlier findings in a model of MS suggested that neutrophils may prompt Th17 cells to adopt a state that promotes inflammation (pro-inflammatory) that worsens MS-related damage.
This project studied the specific signals between neutrophils and T cells to better understand how this harmful interaction occurs.
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.
