Our research priorities

MS affects mood, memory, energy, pain, mobility, and more. And improving how we understand and manage the impact of these symptoms is so important for quality of life. 

Since the launch of our previous strategy, more effective DMTs means many people with MS are experiencing fewer relapses and slower progression. And they’re living longer. So now we need to go beyond just individual symptoms. And take advantage of advances in technology to make progress. 

We’ll focus on improving well-being and quality of life by managing the impact of MS in a way that focuses on the whole person. This could include research that:

• Supports mental health and wellbeing
• Explores non-drug approaches to symptom management like lifestyle changes
• Looks at new ways to support rehabilitation and make it part of everyday care
• Develops digital tools to make sure everyone can access support
• Finds new routes for research to be turned into real-world services 

Our aim is to find treatments that can slow, stop, and one day even reverse, the build-up of disability in MS for everyone.  

Since the launch of our previous strategy, we’ve seen significant changes in the treatment landscape: 

• Two new treatments have been licensed for people with active primary and secondary progressive MS: ocrelizumab and siponimod.
• For the first time, two phase 3 trials – HERCULES and ORATORIO-HAND - have shown drugs are able to slow disability progression in people with non-active primary and secondary progressive MS  
• We now understand that MS progression can happen without relapses (the concept of PIRA or smouldering MS) 

We must keep the momentum going. And step it up.   

We’ll support research that deepens our knowledge of the mechanisms of progression. This could include research that:

• Expands our understanding of PIRA and smouldering MS
• Studies the effect of ageing, and the role of female hormones, on progression
• Develops new models of how MS gets worse over time
• Takes advantage of the wealth of data provided by Octopus  

And we'll support research that develops and tests new approaches to slowing or stopping progression, which could include:

• Getting the right treatment to the right person at the right time, known as precision medicine
• Delivering combinations of treatments that work on different aspects of MS, and putting together drugs that could work better together than on their own
• Looking at non-drug approaches, like managing other health conditions and lifestyle changes
• Identifying signals in the body (called biomarkers) that could be used in clinical research  

And of course, we’ll continue backing world-leading clinical trials, like Octopus. And programmes that turn lab research into new ways to protect nerves and promote myelin repair in people with MS. 

We want fewer people to develop MS in the future. To make this a reality, we first need a better understanding of who’s at risk of MS and why. And how we can act on those risk factors.  

Since the launch of our previous strategy, the research community have generated huge momentum around the prevention of MS, with breakthrough papers on EBV and its causal role in MS. And the concept of identifying and even treating MS before someone develops it clinically (known as the MS prodrome) is gaining traction. 

Now, developing and testing ways to prevent MS must be a global effort. And we have a key role to play.  

We’re seizing momentum in the research community with our UK Prevention Taskforce. And we’ll support research that: 

• Gives us a clearer picture of how people affected by MS feel about risk
• Identifies early signs that someone has a higher risk of MS
• Works out how to support people who are at risk of MS to take part in studies
• Helps us understand what we need to do to run successful prevention trials in the future  

To speed up progress across all three priorities, we need the right people, the right tools, and the right partnerships.  

We’ll continue building a growing, skilled and diverse MS research workforce, that’ll produce tomorrow’s leaders and breakthroughs. We’ll develop strategic collaborations and influence other funders to support MS research. 

And we’ll involve people with MS at every stage, to make sure solutions are accessible, inclusive and based on lived experience. We’ll focus on: 

• Building a thriving community of early career researchers
• Improving diversity and inclusivity in our research programme
• Developing greater capacity in data science, to make the most of developments in AI and other digital technologies
• Playing a vital role in national and international collaborations, like the International Progressive MS Alliance, and creating partnerships with organisations from other health condition
• Using our influence to leverage new funding into MS research