I started my research life in the UK where I researched brain development in zebrafish. When I’m not working, you’ll find me running or mountain biking on trails around Victoria.

I fell into MS research, really. After several years researching brain and blood cell development in zebrafish, I moved into lab-based MS research and now find myself working in clinical MS research, which I love.

For me, the most current exciting development in MS research is the role that technology will play in the management of many aspects of MS. Most of us carry a smartphone around in our pockets or wear a smart watch that are packed with sensors and always internet connected, and these offer new and exciting opportunities to monitor the impact of and changes in symptoms and how this might affect daily functioning of many people living with MS.

There is limited understanding on how cognition in people with MS is impacted by ageing. In people with MS over the age of 55, approximately 77% will experience impairment in two or more cognitive domains. However longitudinal studies are urgently needed to characterise how cognition changes as this population ages. People with MS who have late-onset MS (LOMS, diagnosed over the age of 50) tend to have worse cognitive outcomes relative to adult-onset MS (AOMS), however there is little research on cognition in LOMS. Despite similar levels of disability, people with LOMS have shown higher impairment on tasks of visual learning and memory, compared to AOMS. Digital technologies present opportunities for sensitive cognitive screening. In this study, I will use the MSReactor cognitive platform to monitor cognitive function in older people with MS to determine the impact of ageing on cognition. I aim to define trajectories of cognitive change in LOMS and identify clinical and neuroimaging predictors of cognitive decline in ageing MS. Finally, I will examine biological markers of ageing to explore novel predictors of cognitive decline. Further understanding of cognition and identification of cognitive change trajectories in older people with MS are essential for better measures of disease progression and trial design in this population.

Cognition, and particularly how cognitive function changes over time, in an ageing MS population is not well understood. As treatment and healthcare improve, the proportion of older people living with MS continues to increase and this poses new challenges for the care and management of these patients due to being a historically under-studied population. More knowledge about how the disease and symptoms progress in this older population is urgently needed. This would lead to improved outcomes, better definitions of disease progression, and to better trial designs that include this often-excluded group. Combined with analytics such as machine learning, development and validation of technological cognitive monitoring tools offers promising advances in the emerging field of digital biomarkers, which have the potential to revolutionise the way that all people living with MS are monitored.

My favourite thing about working in translational research is the opportunity to work with a large team made up of neurologists, scientists, statisticians and other health professionals. I am always humbled by the people living with MS that we work with, who give up so much of their precious time and show much interest in the work that we do. It really feels like a team effort!