August 24, 2022 News by Mary Chapman New MS Grant Winners to Explore Disease Risk, Prevalence in Australia The newest recipients of the MS Australia incubator grants will seek novel ways to prevent and treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and explore the prevalence and incidence of the neurodegenerative disorder in different parts of the country. One scientist will use the funding to explore disease risk factors ā and…
April 13, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Australia Sets Aside $18M to Support MS Trials, EBV Research The Australian government has announced that a record AU$18 million (about $13.5 million) from the Medical Research Future Fund will be used to support research intoĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) as part of its 2022ā23 budget. Grant opportunities willĀ focus on increasing access to clinical trials and speeding the development of effective…
March 30, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS Society of Canada Grants Will Support 66 Research Projects The MS Society of Canada is providing thousands in funding to 66 research projects that aim to accelerate scientific understand of multiple sclerosis (MS) and to improve care for people with the disease. The society announced the winners of its 2022ā23 Annual Research Competition in four categories…
February 16, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD UK MS Society Investing $1.5M in Support of 9 Research Projects The MS SocietyĀ of the U.K. intends to raise over Ā£1.1 million (about $1.5 million) to support nineĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) research projects, marking the return of the grants program it put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will support research in the…
December 10, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS National MS Society Funds 13 New Research Projects The National MS Society has announced it is funding 13 new research projects that seek to better understand the risk factors involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) development and progression. The funding ā nearly $7 million in total ā also will go to “rescue” 22 MS-related research projects that…
September 3, 2021 News by Shayna Korol Patients, Caregivers Asked to Help Adira in Choosing Grant Awards TheĀ Adira FoundationĀ is inviting people with neurodegenerative diseases and their caregivers to join a grant proposal review committee. A nonprofit foundation, its mission is to unite people affected by some of most common neurodegenerative diseases ā namely, multiple sclerosis,Ā amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease,Ā and…
September 3, 2021 News by Yedida Y Bogachkov PhD 13th Annual Burgers to Beat MS Day Raises $1.4M Though 13 may be an unlucky number for some, that was not the case for the 13th Annual A&W Canada “Burgers to Beat MS Day.” The initiative raised $1.4 million, bringing the total for the 13-year run to more than $17 million. On Aug. 19, every A&W Teen Burger…
March 3, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD NMSS Partnership Targets Autoimmune Disease Research The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has joined forces with the diabetes-focused JDRF and the Lupus Research Alliance to fund research looking at common underlying mechanisms of autoimmune disease. Called “Decoding Immune-Mediated Diseases ā Novel Approaches for Therapeutic Insights,” the new joint grant program is meant to stimulate…
March 1, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Imcyse Raises ā¬21.3M to Advance Treatments for MS, Other Diseases Imcyse has raised ā¬21.3 million ($25.8 million) in funding to advance its innovative immunotherapy platform for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other severe autoimmune diseases. The funding was a result of a series B financing round featuring existing investors such as Biogenosis, SociĆ©tĆ© FĆ©dĆ©rale de Participations et…
February 3, 2021 News by Teresa Carvalho, MS New Center to Advance Research on MS, Neurovascular Disorders A $2.5 million donation from the Simon Family Trust is supporting the creation of a new center of expertise to help in the development of new therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases. The new center is being launched by researchers from Gladstone Institutes and the…
December 15, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Study Seeks to Better Understand How MS Affects Memory A new research project will seek to better understand the biological processes that drive memory problems in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), as a better understanding of these processes may open new avenues for intervention. The four-year study is titled “Neuroimaging of Hippocampally Mediated Memory Dysfunction in…
November 4, 2020 News by Mary Chapman Innovation Challenge Seeks Solutions From Entrepreneurs in MS Community A $25,000 contest is inviting entrepreneurs who have multiple sclerosis (MS), or take care of someone with MS, to pitch their non-therapeutic solutions for people with the neurodegenerative disorder. The virtual Innovation Challenge, which takes place in March 2021, is part of a collaboration between patient-powered platform Lyfebulb…
July 7, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Collaborative Project Will Focus on TRPM4 as Potential Therapeutic Target for MS The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has granted ā¬1.2 million ($1.35 million) to support a project seeking to characterize the function of the protein TRPM4, a potential therapeutic target to prevent nerve cell injury associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to develop new drug candidates…
April 27, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS XRHealth Raises $7M for Telehealth Expansion XRHealth has raised $7 million to expand its telehealth platform, with the goal of providing clinicians and patients with virtual and augmented reality therapy. The funding will also increase access to virtual support groups for people with multiple sclerosis and other diseases. Telehealth broadly refers to the…
December 5, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc $1M Gift to MS Society of Canada to Support New Tools for Better Therapy Decisions TD Bank GroupĀ has donated $1 million to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of CanadaĀ to support research projects aiming to use artificial intelligence to create tools enabling better use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) inĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) patients. MS Society will channel these funds into itsĀ Acts of Greatness campaign,…
October 1, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD FeetMe Raises ā¬9.4M to Advance Gait and Posture Technology for Patients with Movement Disorders FeetMe, a medical device company dedicated to the development of devices and digital health services to improve patientsā mobility, has raised ā¬9.4 million ($10.25 million) in Series A fundingĀ to boost the commercialization of its innovative technology for clinical trials and regular clinical practice in hospitals and…
August 2, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc MS Society, Parkinson’s UK Grant $3.6 Million to Digital Brain Bank The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's Tissue Bank at Imperial College London, the largest brain and tissue bank in Europe, will receive Ā£1.5 million (about $1.82 million) from the U.K.Ā MS Society. This fund will support the development of a digital brain bank powered by a virtual reality platform, which will provide new tools for researchers around the world with the ultimate goal of stopping multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases. These new technologies will be used to create high-definition pictures of brain tissue donated by people with MS after their death. āWhen the tissue bank first opened in 1998 there were practically no treatments for those affected. Things are very different now and itās a privilege to work with an organization like the MS Society, which does everything it can to ensure the work of the scientific community reflects the needs of people living with MS," Richard Nicholas, PhD, scientific director of the tissue bank, said in a press release. āThis investment will ensure all researchers have access to high quality brain and spinal cord tissue from people with MS, and marks an important development in the U.K. research landscape. Weāre excited to see where it takes us,ā Nicholas added. The new-era tissue bank will grant researchers access to tissue images that can be studied extensively and indefinitely, and also will offer the opportunity to explore the brainās structures in a 3-D interactive section. Together with Parkinson's UK, these two leading neurological charities will contribute a total of Ā£3 million (about $3.6 million) over a period of five years. "The MS Society Tissue Bank has been vital in improving our understanding of MS and finding treatments for some people with the condition. But our top priority now is finding treatments to slow or stop MS for everyone,ā said Sorrel Bickley, PhD, head of biomedical research at MS Society. This new virtual database gives researchers the opportunity to develop innovative projects in which they can combine virtual tissue data with genetic analysis in an easy and more efficient way, and help define how genetic landscape can affect MS and Parkinsonās progression. āWe can see a future where nobody needs to worry about MS getting worse, but for that to happen we urgently need to find treatments that repair myelin ā the protective layer that surrounds our nerves, which is damaged in MS, and protect the nerves from damage. This funding will allow researchers to operate as effectively as possible, and ultimately help us stop MS faster,ā Bickley said.
June 25, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New Jersey Health Foundation Awards $70,000 to Kessler Foundation Researchers Studying MS and Stroke Two researchers at Kessler Foundation were awarded grants of $35,000 each by the New Jersey Health Foundation to pursue their investigations into new ways to improve rehabilitative care for disabilities caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) and stroke. One of the awardees…
June 19, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Duet, an Innovative Device and App, Wins Lyfebulb-Celgene 2019 MS Innovation Challenge Kinza Kasher from LeoPlus USA was selected from a list of 10 finalists to receive the $25,000 grant for āAddressing Unmet Needs in MS: An Innovation Challenge,ā Lyfebulb and Celgene announced. This initiative’s goal is to encourage the development of innovative solutions to help those…
April 17, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD National MS Society Grants $24.4M to Fund 64 MS Research Projects The NationalĀ Multiple Sclerosis Society has granted $24.4 million to fund 64 multiple sclerosis (MS) research projects and training fellowships worldwide. This is the latest funding initiative by the Society, which is planning to invest a total of $35 million in 2019 to support 340 MS studies ongoing across…
April 8, 2019 News by Alberto Molano, PhD In-Depth Study into MS Progression Gets $2M Boost from Roche Canada Roche Canada is contributing $2.125 million to the Canadian Prospective Cohort Study to Understand Progression in MS (CanProCo), a partnership initiative with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the Brain Canada Foundation, and Biogen Canada. The addition of Roche Canada to the collaboration raises the…
March 27, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc $1.5 Million Earmarked to Attract Neurologists, Improve Speciality Care in El Paso County Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El PasoĀ has received a $750,000 gift to establish an endowedĀ chair in the department of neurology. TTUHSC will match that donation to provide a total of $1.5 million thatĀ will be used to recruit and attract physicians in specialty areas that are underserved in…
March 13, 2019 News by Santiago Gisler Phase 2 Trial Will Assess Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy to Treat Progressive Forms of MS The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ is funding a new Phase 2 clinical trial to test the effectiveness of stem cell therapy on individuals with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), using mesenchymal stem cells from their own bone marrow. The ability of stem cells to both self-renew and create…
February 28, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc National MS Society Grants $50,000 to Kessler Researchers to Study Processing Speed in MS Kessler Foundation researchers Ekaterina Dobryakova, PhD, and Pei-Pei Liu, PhD, have been awarded a $50,000 grant by the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society to studyĀ the speed at which MS patients processĀ information during social interactions. A better understanding of how MS affects the way a person learns from others’…
January 29, 2019 News by Santiago Gisler Funding Supports MS Research on Epigenetics and Fatigue in Australia Australian researchers from the University of NewcastleĀ andĀ the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) have received funding for two projects that will study unexplored areas in multiple sclerosis (MS). The projects, investigating the role of epigenetic differences in MS severity and treatment against MS-derived fatigue, received $211,000 AUD (about $151,300…
November 30, 2018 News by Alberto Molano, PhD CDC Launching National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System to Study MS The U.S. Congress is supporting with $5 million the National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System (NNCSS), an initiative to be launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help researchers better understand who develops neurological disorders and why. The NNCSS was authorized by Congress as a part…
October 8, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto National MS Society Awards $12M to 40 Research Projects in US and Elsewhere The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)Ā has pledged $12 million to support 40 new, multi-year research projects focused on āstopping MS, restoring lost function, and ending the disease forever,ā the organization announced in a press release. This commitment ā the last allocation set aside for research in 2018 ā…
August 3, 2018 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Remington College Opens Partnership with National MS Society by Raising $4,000 to Advance Goals Remington CollegeĀ initiated its partnership with the National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ by raising more than $4,000 to support the society and its efforts to advance research into multiple sclerosis and care for patients. The money was raised at campus events that markedĀ World MS DayĀ inĀ May. In addition to encouraging…
May 11, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Akili to Advance Potential Video Game-Based Therapies for MS, Other Disorders Akili InteractiveĀ announced it has received a $55 million in financing to develop a digital platform to possibly treat people with cognitive impairment associated with diseases likeĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). The company is focused on creating products with therapeutic potential based on high-quality video game experiences. The financing was led…
May 7, 2018 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc MS on the Rise But Still Not a Top Health Priority for Australians, Study Shows Despite increasing prevalence, multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to fly under the radar with only 40 percent of Australians ranking MS as a community health priority, highlighting the need for greater awareness. Estimates show that 25,600 Australians live with MS ā an increase of 4,400 over the past eight years.