In 1946 the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was born, and in 1947 the Society sponsored its first three research projects. Today, the National MS Society is a driving force of MS research, and global research efforts are underway. Research sponsored by the Society and its many partners in government, other MS societies, and the private sector has led to major advances in our understanding and treatment of this complex disease.
We are a driving force of MS research and treatment to stop disease progression, restore function, and end MS forever.
The complexity of MS necessitates a holistic approach when it comes to research – a comprehensive strategy that can propel knowledge, better treatments, health care policies, and new disease management therapies forward, faster. A great deal of progress has been made. Although the cause of MS is still unknown, thanks to global research efforts, clear clues are emerging on factors that influence the risk of developing MS. We have better and faster ways of diagnosing MS, and there are therapies that can reduce MS attacks and delay progression for many, with more potential therapies in the pipeline than at any other time in history.
To move toward a world free of MS, the National MS Society provides grant funding, tools and information resources to support the brightest scientists and physicians exploring questions underlying MS, and to attract and train promising young investigators to carry on this vital work. We offer a spectrum of funding opportunities and other resources to support MS investigators at virtually every stage of their careers.
We are finding expeditious ways to conduct research, forge relationships, bridge barriers and garner resources to propel research forward:
• Fast-tracking high-risk pilot grants to quickly test novel ideas.
• Evaluating urgent research opportunities with special peer review panels.
• Sharing resources to enhance discovery, including MS tissue banks and DNA banks.
We foster coalitions worldwide with experts in other fields and diseases to make rapid and meaningful progress:
• Offering special funding for collaborative teams.
• Engaging thought leaders to identify new opportunities and help set priorities and to serve as peer reviewers and advisors. Our centralized peer review and funding process helps us avoid geographic and political biases, and identify the best research projects in which to strategically invest our resources.
• Leveraging support from other organizations, agencies and industry to propel MS research.
We fuel novel ideas, potential therapies, projects and technologies to discover and pursue every avenue that holds promise:
• Offering special funding to test innovative ideas.
• Funding university-based research and clinical trials to feed the drug pipeline, and pursuing industry partnerships for drug development.
• Exploring non-traditional research avenues, including: health care policy/delivery; quality of life; complementary/alternative therapies; and concepts initiated within the pharma/biotech industries.
• Funding investigator-initiated and Society-targeted research. We invite scientists to come to us with their new ideas to be tested, and we also proactively target promising areas that are ripe for exploration.
• We have convened over 50 international workshops and meetings over the past 40 years, playing a pivotal role in fostering collaborations and moving knowledge forward in critical areas. Many of these workshops have been springboards for crucial leaps forward in research approaches to MS.
After an exhaustive audit of our research programs, in 2010 Faster Cures, an independent nonprofit focused on speeding medical research, lauded the Society’s efforts, identifying us as the “single organization serving as a catalyst for new research in MS.”
Fast Forward, founded by the National MS Society, focuses on expediting the drug development process, bridging the gap between promising discoveries and the commercial expertise and funding to move them forward. Fast Forward provides critical funds to academic groups and emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies involved in drug research and development. By connecting people, ideas, and resources, promising drug treatments can now break through barriers, move through the pipeline, and enter clinical trials - faster.
Recent Research News
MS Trial Alert: Investigators Nationwide Recruiting People with All Types of MS for Early, Phase I Study to Determine Safety of Experimental Antibody
May 22, 2013
Summary: Investigators nationwide are recruiting 60 people with all types of MS for a phase I study to determine the safety and tolerability of rHIgM22, an experimental antibody. The study is funded by Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.
UPDATED: Clinical Trial Results Announced in Study of Peginterferon Beta-1a - Company Submits Application to FDA
May 21, 2013
Biogen Idec announced that a phase III study of peginterferon beta-1a, injected under the skin either every two or four weeks, reduced the relapse rate significantly more than placebo in a study of 1500 people with relapsing MS, reaching the primary goal of the study. Peginterferon is a new formulation of the interferon beta-1a molecule which enables it to maintain effects in the body for longer periods of time. More data from this ongoing study, also called the ADVANCE study, will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in March. According to a press release, the company is planning to file for regulatory approval in the United States and European Union in 2013.
Studies Report Progress Understanding What Drives Repair of the Brain’s Insulating Myelin, Which is Damaged by MS
May 08, 2013
Researchers at the universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and at Stanford, have reported separate studies making inroads to understanding factors that stimulate the repair of myelin, the nerve insulation that is a target of multiple sclerosis. These important laboratory discoveries, supported in part by the National MS Society, are still in early stages and need to be confirmed and expanded, but they could eventually lead to promising new therapeutic approaches to stimulating myelin repair to restore function in people with MS.
Study Finds that the Incidence of MS Appears to be Higher in African American Women Than in Caucasians, Contradicting Previous Findings
May 06, 2013
A new study of 496 people newly diagnosed with MS found that the risk of developing MS was 47% higher in African American women, compared with Caucasian American men or women. It also found that the risk was 50% lower in Hispanic/Latino Americans, and 80% lower in Asian Americans.
Positive Results Announced for Aubagio in Phase III Study of People at High Risk for MS
Apr 26, 2013
Among 618 people at high risk of developing MS, significantly fewer people taking oral Aubagio® (teriflunomide, Genzyme, a Sanofi company) for two years had developed clinically definite MS than those taking placebo, Genzyme announced in a press release dated April 25, 2013.