National MS Society Announces $19.4 Million for New Research
January 29, 2014
DENVER – The National MS Society has committed $19.4 million to support 38 new research projects aimed at stopping MS, restoring function lost and ending the disease forever. Each year a portion of funds raised by the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter’s events, including Walk MS and Bike MS, are contributed to support the Society’s global research projects. In 2013, the Chapter contributed a record $1.5 million to research efforts.
The new projects funded by the Society range from a clinical trial to test whether ibudilast, a repurposed therapy, can protect the nervous system and slow or stop progressive MS to examining whether potential benefits of vitamin D therapy depend on an individual gene.
“The key to stopping MS, reversing damage caused by MS and ending MS forever is research,” said Carrie Nolan, president of the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter.
“Although the cause and cure for MS remain unknown, strong support of research efforts has moved MS from an untreatable disease just over 20 years ago, to having 10, FDA-approved therapies that can impact the underlying course of MS. Great strides have been made, but much work remains. There are still no treatments to stop the progression MS or that reverse and restore function lost to nervous system damage caused by this disease. This is the next frontier,” Nolan emphasized.
The Society is the largest private funder of MS research in the world. In 2013 alone the Society invested than $48 million to fund 380 research projects worldwide – nine are located in Colorado. The Chapter hopes to exceed last year’s gift to Society research in 2014, which is contingent on the continued strong support of community members throughout Colorado and Wyoming.
The Chapter’s 2014 fundraising events kick off with Wyoming Walk MS in Laramie and Gillette on April 12. Walk MS Denver and Walk MS Grand Junction lead off events in Colorado on May 3.
The Colorado-Wyoming Chapter has offices located in Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, and Grand Junction in Colorado and in Cheyenne and Casper in Wyoming to serve and advocate for the more than 100,000 people affected by MS in the two-state region.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are leading to better understanding and moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.