2024: A year in MS research

This year has brought exciting research discoveries, significant clinical trial milestones and the start of promising new projects. Let’s take a look back at our research highlights from 2024. 

Highlights from the lab 

Our researchers have made exciting progress in understanding the biology of MS, uncovering potential new ways to treat it.

Microglia are immune cells in the brain that can become overactive in MS lesions, causing further damage. Our researchers at the University of Cambridge have identified a way to switch these cells off by targeting their energy source. This could potentially lead to new therapies to slow or stop MS. 

Research we've funded has shown that inflammation outside the brain, which can be caused by infections like colds and viruses, could contribute to progression of MS. Researchers found that inflammation from infections was linked to a loss of nerve cells in the spinal cord. This highlights how important it is for people with MS to seek early treatment for infections and keep up to date with vaccinations.  

Researchers at our Edinburgh Centre for MS Research made exciting progress in myelin repair. The team genetically modified human brain cells to ignore signals in MS lesions that prevent myelin repair. When they transplanted these modified cells into mice, they successfully repaired myelin. This offers hope for future treatments to repair myelin and restore nerve function in people with MS. 

Milestones in clinical trials for progressive MS 

In September, Professor Jeremy Chataway from University College London shared the results of our MS-STAT2 trial at ECTRIMS, the world’s largest annual MS research conference. The trial was testing simvastatin as a treatment for people with secondary progressive MS. Despite promising earlier findings, simvastatin wasn’t able to slow disability progression.  However, the trial has provided insights into the biology of progressive MS. It's also highlighted the ability of the UK MS community to deliver high-quality, large-scale clinical trials. 

In November, two of our trials reached important milestones: 

• CCMR2 is testing a combination of metformin and clemastine in people with relapsing MS, to see if it can improve myelin repair. The team have now reached their recruitment goal of 70 people. We expect the final results of the trial in late 2025.   
• Octopus is our mega-trial for progressive MS. The trial team have finished the first stage of recruitment, with over 375 people taking part in the trial. The trial will now move seamlessly into the next stage, with researchers aiming to recruit up to 1500 more people with progressive MS. 

Funding future breakthroughs 

Thanks to your support, we've been able to fund 17 new research projects this year. That’s £2.5 million going towards a vast range of projects to understand MS and help improve diagnosis, treatments, and services.  

Training the next generation of MS researchers 

This year, we also launched two new Doctoral Training Centres aimed at finding effective ways to manage MS symptoms without drugs. The centres, based at Glasgow Caledonian University and King’s College London, will provide high quality research training for 11 PhD students. 

• The King’s College London centre will focus on digital health interventions to manage symptoms like pain, anxiety and sexual difficulties. 
• The Glasgow Caledonian University centre will explore both traditional exercise and newer approaches like virtual reality and dance to see if they can improve fatigue, mobility and cognition. 

MS Frontiers 2024 

In July, we brought scientists, clinicians and healthcare professionals together for our research conference, MS Frontiers. This gave the MS research community the opportunity to discuss hot topics in MS research, share ideas, and spark collaborations. Over two days we heard from over 50 speakers, from PhD students beginning their career in early research to world-leading experts. 

Driving progress towards preventing MS 

We still don’t have a good enough understanding of why some people develop MS. In other conditions without a known cause, researchers are already finding preventative treatments. This year, we set up the UK MS Prevention Taskforce to learn from these conditions and drive progress towards preventing MS. 

Looking ahead to 2025 

2025 marks the final year of our Stop MS Appeal. Thanks to your incredible support, we're closer than ever to our goal of stopping MS progression for everyone. 

Together, we've made so much progress in 2024, but there’s more work to be done. We look forward to another year of driving meaningful change for people living with MS. Keep an eye on our research news page for updates on research breakthroughs and newly funded projects.