One way the National MS Society propels MS research forward is by funding high-risk, high-potential pilot projects to investigate new, untested ideas and attract new researchers to the field. These unique one-year grants allow researchers to quickly gather data needed to determine if their novel ideas are worth pursuing. A researcher who submits a pilot research proposal will receive fast-track reviews and approvals to speed the testing of new ideas. Some quick facts about our pilot projects:
- One-year grants for $33,000 (as of summer 2008)
- Any topic or technique relevant to MS research
- Quick turnaround: applicants usually know within 2 months if they will receive funds
- Pilots attract new talent: About half of pilot grant recipients are new to National MS Society funding
- Over 70 funded each year (We have temporarily suspended new applications to this program while it is being evaluated to ensure it is meeting the changing needs of the research community.)
See a list of recently funded, high-risk pilot projects.
Here is a sampling of recent pilot research projects:
- Kottil W. Rammohan, MD (Ohio State University) is exploring a novel method for improving the efficacy of current MS treatments. This project focuses on a major problem with interferon therapy: some people develop antibodies to the drug that can neutralize some of the drug’s effectiveness. Dr. Rammohan’s team is devising an approach to stop antibody production during interferon treatment by studying individuals who, for as yet unknown reasons, spontaneously become antibody-negative. They suspect that in these individuals, “soluble immune complexes,” consisting of interferon and an immune protein called Ig, attach to B cells and shut down its antibody production. In this pilot project, antibody-positive subjects on interferon therapy are being infused with these immune complexes over a number of months. During this time, their antibody status is being monitored to determine whether the anti-interferon antibodies disappear. This strategy may eliminate one of the main drawbacks of interferon therapy and extend its beneficial effects to people who develop antibodies to this drug.
- Jan Lunemann, MD (The Rockefeller University) is investigating mechanisms through which a virus could possibly trigger MS. Several previous studies have suggested a possible link between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and MS, but other infectious agents have also been linked to MS, leading some researchers to suggest that the way the immune system responds to infections, rather than the infectious agent itself, may lead to the onset of MS. Dr. Lunemann and colleagues have found that people with MS exhibit a distinct immune cell response to EBV. Now they are analyzing immune cells from people with MS and people without the disease to determine the degree to which the EBV response differs. These experiments could yield important insight into a possible environmental trigger of MS.
- Bonnie Dittel, PhD (Blood Center of Wisconsin) is investigating how cannabinoids, compounds similar to marijuana, influence the activity of immune cells responsible for disease activity in MS. Immune cells have been shown to have docking sites, or receptors, for cannabinoids. (Marijuana contains cannabinoids, and the body also produces its own cannabinoids.) Cannabinoids are known to suppress the immune system, and recent research has suggested that the MS-like disease EAE in mice can be suppressed by specific cannabinoids. Dr. Dittel is investigating the idea that molecules in the brain can regulate inflammation by way of a specific cannabinoid receptor (called CNR2) on immune T cells, the cells responsible for the immune attack in MS. Among her experiments, Dr. Dittel is testing whether synthetic cannabinoids that act at the CNR2 receptor can reduce the severity of EAE. To do this, her team is introducing the human CNR2 receptor into mouse immune cells, creating a system that in the future can be used to validate the potential effects of therapeutics that target the CNR2 receptor in people with MS.
- Ernesto R. Bongarzone, PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago) is examining the potential for stem cells to repair damage in MS. In MS, the blood-brain barrier, a protective membrane that normally controls the passage of substances from the blood into the brain, opens and permits attacking immune cells to infiltrate the brain and spinal cord. Dr. Bongarzone is investigating whether the permeability of the blood-brain barrier MS might be used as a therapeutic advantage to allow neural precursor cells to move from the brain into the blood stream and vice versa. Neural precursor, or stem, cells are immature cells that might be found in the blood but may develop into nerve cells and initiate repair of MS damage. This team is obtaining blood samples from people with MS to determine if their blood contains neural precursor cells in circulation. This novel study may provide significant information to propose the use of neural precursor cells to repair damage in people with MS.