MS Expert at University of Buffalo Receives Impact Award from National MS Society

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society gave its Impact Award to Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, for her research and patient care in multiple sclerosis (MS).

According to the society, the award is intended for “a business or individual whose leadership helps ensure those with MS live their best lives.”

Weinstock-Guttman is a well-known expert in MS in both adults and children. She is the executive director of the New York State Multiple Sclerosis Consortium, one of the country’s largest MS registries and an alliance of treatment centers to prospectively assess clinical characteristics of MS patients.

As a researcher, Weinstock-Guttman has been at the forefront of new strategies to treat MS, while contributing to a more detailed understanding of the many ways the disease affects patients.

She is a professor at the University at Buffalo’s Department of Neurology at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and a physician with the UBMD Neurology group.

Her work includes analyzing the association between cholesterol and MS, evaluating exercise and bone health programs for aging patients, and the study of biomarkers that may predict greater quality of life for patients.

Weinstock-Guttman was hired by MMJ BioScience, an affiliate of medical cannabis research company MMJ International Holdings, to serve as principal investigator in clinical trials assessing medical cannabis in progressive MS. The company recently filed a patent for a part-cannabinoid and part-non-cannabinoid treatment for MS and other diseases.

She is also director of the Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center of the Jacobs Neurological Institute, one of six centers of excellence established by the National MS Society.

In her practice, Weinstock-Guttman provides comprehensive care to patients that goes beyond the use of medications. It includes diet, exercise, physical and occupational therapy, neurocognitive assessment, and social services.

“Dr. Weinstock-Guttman’s critical research, combined with her phenomenal patient orientation and concern for impacting her patient’s daily lives, is what made her the best person to receive this important award,” Penny Pennington, an adviser on public policy and research programs to the National MS Society, said in a press release.

Pennington is also a member of the board of directors of an MS patient advocacy group called Advancing Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ARMS).

Weinstock-Guttman received the Impact Award at the Society’s 39th Annual Ambassador’s Ball in Washington, D.C., last fall.