Tell us about your current research project...
The research program that we will pursue with Professor Trevor Kilpatrick and the teams at the Florey Institute, University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital in the course of this fellowship will translate several biological concepts into clinical practice. First, it will develop a method to diagnose and monitor insidious (latent) progression of MS, using clinical information and several promising biomarkers, such as neurofilament light chain, quantitative MRI analysis and cognitive profiling. It will assess the utility of this information for treatment decisions. Our study will further explore the interaction between relevant genes - MERTK and HLA-DRB1 - with the latent MS progression. Further, the study will assess the ability of the currently used MS therapies to slow or abolish the subclinical progression of MS and thus avert overt and permanent disability later. This research will develop and translate a method to characterise activity of the innate immune system in the central nervous system of people with MS. Finally, the program will advance development a new therapy for MS progression, with a defined path to its translation into an in-human clinical trial.