MS Researcher, Ari Waisman, Honored with Sobek Prize for Groundbreaking Work into Inflammation

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by Patricia Silva, PhD |

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Ari Waisman, a multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā researcher credited with having made major contributionsĀ to “the successful development of modern anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory therapies,” was recently honoredĀ by theĀ Sobek Foundation.

The author of over 170 scientific articles on MS, Waisman is theĀ director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), in Germany. He is the 17thĀ  recipient of the Research Prize of the Roman, Marga and Mareille Sobek Foundation to be an MS research specialist.

Ari Waisman

Ari Waisman. (Credit: Jan Potente, AMSEL e.V.)

He received the award for work thatĀ helped to unveil mechanisms behind MS ā€” including into “theĀ role and regulation of inflammatory cells in the brain” ā€” and thatĀ may well form the basis of preventive treatments to limit tissue degeneration, the foundation announced in a press release. Specifically, it said, Waisman’s workĀ furthered scientificĀ understanding of the mechanisms behind autoimmune diseases, the cause of chronic inflammatory tissue damage, and was a driving force in ongoing work toward theĀ development of what are being called neuroprotective therapies, which aim to slow the progression of these diseases.

Neuroprotective treatments are being designed to prevent axonal, neuronal, myelin and oligodendrocyte damage and cell death, and target suchĀ different processes asĀ oxidative stress, ionic imbalance (of sodium, potassium or calcium), and energy depletion.Ā If neuroprotective therapies are able to successfullyĀ target natural repair mechanisms, rather than disease specific processes, they may not only treat MS butĀ other brain diseases as well, such as stroke, brain trauma or epilepsy.

Waisman was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and studied biology in Israel, where he completed his PhD on immuno-biology. He was appointed professor of immunology at the Mainz University Medical Center in 2005, and has been director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine since 2010.

Ulrich Steinbach, director general of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Art in Germany, was present at the award ceremony and praised Waismanā€™s research achievements.

In recent years, Waisman has been involved in setting upĀ an MSĀ research training networkĀ called ITN-NeuroKine, established in 2013 at the Mainz universityĀ with a ā‚¬3.5 million grant from the European Commission, to promote research training and studies into brain andĀ immune system interaction.

“The core objective of our new ITN-NeuroKine research network is to gain insight into the impairment of communication between immune cells,” WaismanĀ said in a Gutenberg University release at the time. “We will specifically be focusing on the soluble proteins called cytokines, which regulate the communication between these cells.”

This year’s Sobek research prizeĀ Ā wasĀ jointly awarded with AMSEL e.V. and the German Multiple Sclerosis Society.