The Progressive MS Alliance has awarded its first round of 22 research grants to investigators in nine countries, with the goal of removing barriers to developing treatments for progressive MS.

The 22 projects were chosen from 195 research proposals submitted by researchers in 22 countries. These were then reviewed by the Alliance’s 40-strong Scientific Review Committee.

This first round of funding is the start of an ambitious programme that will see a total of €22 million invested in progressive MS research over the next six years.

The funding will also help forge international collaborative research networks — leveraging research already underway and stimulating new research.

The Progressive MS Alliance is a collaboration between MS organisations, including the MS International Federation and its members, and other stakeholders. Its main aim is to speed up the development of effective treatments for progressive MS. As part of its global fundraising strategy, the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation calls on its members to join the Alliance and work together to raise funds to make this crucial research possible.

The first grants are short-term innovative pilot studies to begin filling knowledge and infrastructure gaps such as identifying and testing potential treatments; understanding nerve degeneration; and building databanks and biobanks — repositories of biological samples for use in research — to better understand long-term imaging, genetics, and outcomes associated with progressive MS.

These pilot studies have terms of one to two years.

The 22 first-round projects will focus on six areas:

• Clinical trials and outcome measures: Hasselt University (Belgium), Imperial College London (UK), John Hopkins University (USA), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (USA), Umeå University (Sweden)
• Biomarkers of progression: VU University Medical Center Amsterdam (Netherlands), Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (Spain)
• Gene studies: Karolinska Institute (Sweden), University of California-San Francisco (USA), The International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium (UK)
• Rehabilitation trials: Kessler Foundation Research Center (USA), Plymouth University (UK)
• Underlying pathology of progression: Brigham and Women’s Hospital (USA), VU University Medical Center Amsterdam (Netherlands), McGill University (Canada), Monash University (Australia), University of Edinburgh (UK), University of Verona (Italy), Yale University (USA)
• Developing new disease models: Renovo Neural, Inc. (USA), Stanford University (USA)

“The research community’s response to our first call for innovative research proposals has been exceptional, and speaks to both the unmet need and the galvanizing force of this international initiative,” noted Cynthia Zagieboylo, Chair of the Alliance’s Executive Committee and CEO of the National MS Society (USA).

“For the first time, MS societies around the globe are funding research together, without considering geography, in order to find the answers the progressive MS community urgently needs,” she added.

The Progressive MS Alliance has awarded its first round of 22 research grants to investigators in nine countries, with the goal of removing barriers to developing treatments for progressive MS.

The 22 projects were chosen from 195 research proposals submitted by researchers in 22 countries. These were then reviewed by the Alliance’s 40-strong Scientific Review Committee.

This first round of funding is the start of an ambitious programme that will see a total of €22 million invested in progressive MS research over the next six years.

The funding will also help forge international collaborative research networks — leveraging research already underway and stimulating new research.

The first grants are short-term innovative pilot studies to begin filling knowledge and infrastructure gaps such as identifying and testing potential treatments; understanding nerve degeneration; and building databanks and biobanks — repositories of biological samples for use in research — to better understand long-term imaging, genetics, and outcomes associated with progressive MS. These pilot studies have terms of one to two years.

The 22 first-round projects will focus on six areas:

“The research community’s response to our first call for innovative research proposals has been exceptional, and speaks to both the unmet need and the galvanizing force of this international initiative,” noted Cynthia Zagieboylo, Chair of the Alliance’s Executive Committee and CEO of the National MS Society (USA).

“For the first time, MS societies around the globe are funding research together, without considering geography, in order to find the answers the progressive MS community urgently needs,” she added.

– See more at: http://www.progressivemsalliance.org/research/research-projects-funded-by-the-alliance/#sthash.DiXesU7v.dpuf

The Progressive MS Alliance has awarded its first round of 22 research grants to investigators in nine countries, with the goal of removing barriers to developing treatments for progressive MS.

The 22 projects were chosen from 195 research proposals submitted by researchers in 22 countries. These were then reviewed by the Alliance’s 40-strong Scientific Review Committee.

This first round of funding is the start of an ambitious programme that will see a total of €22 million invested in progressive MS research over the next six years.

The funding will also help forge international collaborative research networks — leveraging research already underway and stimulating new research.

The first grants are short-term innovative pilot studies to begin filling knowledge and infrastructure gaps such as identifying and testing potential treatments; understanding nerve degeneration; and building databanks and biobanks — repositories of biological samples for use in research — to better understand long-term imaging, genetics, and outcomes associated with progressive MS. These pilot studies have terms of one to two years.

The 22 first-round projects will focus on six areas:

“The research community’s response to our first call for innovative research proposals has been exceptional, and speaks to both the unmet need and the galvanizing force of this international initiative,” noted Cynthia Zagieboylo, Chair of the Alliance’s Executive Committee and CEO of the National MS Society (USA).

“For the first time, MS societies around the globe are funding research together, without considering geography, in order to find the answers the progressive MS community urgently needs,” she added.

– See more at: http://www.progressivemsalliance.org/research/research-projects-funded-by-the-alliance/#sthash.DiXesU7v.dpuf