MS Frontiers 2022: answering the big questions in MS research

Predicting disability from lesions

In MS, the immune system attacks the protective coating around nerves, called myelin. This leaves lesions – areas with little myelin in the brain or spinal cord. There are different types of lesions, identified with MRI scans.

Read 7 things you need to know about MRI and MS

Dr. Alberto Calvi from University College London is interested in two types of lesions. Both are ‘smoldering’ lesions which continue to change over time. But they don’t occur at the same time as relapses. He wanted to find out what other effect they might be having.

Alberto looked at MRI scans from people with relapsing MS. He found people with both types of smoldering lesions had a worse EDSS score (a measure of disability) than people with only one type.

Read more about Dr. Alberto Calvi's work

We don’t yet know why this combination of smoldering lesions is causing the increase in disability. But by spotting smoldering lesions on MRI scans, it could help people with MS better understand how their condition might progress.

Speeding up myelin repair

We know our brains can make new myelin, but in MS the process is less efficient. One of the problems is myelin-making cells don’t move into lesions very well.

Learn more about myelin repair

Dr. Laura Wagstaff from the University of Edinburgh found a way to get more myelin-making cells into lesions. We already know MS lesions contain chemicals which keeps these cells away. So she modified cells to make them blind to these chemicals. In mice, the modified cells moved from other parts of the brain straight into the lesions and repaired the lost myelin.

This research will help us find ways to encourage more myelin-making cells to move in people’s brains as well. So alongside clinical trials for myelin repair, basic lab research is already starting to make the process even more efficient for the future.

Improving support for people with MS after lockdowns

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, many people with MS experienced changes to their care. Researchers have been exploring whether some of these changes should stay.

Dr Owen Pearson’s group from Swansea University spoke to people with MS who had virtual group counselling sessions with clinicians. People with MS said they benefitted from having support from other people with MS around medication decisions alongside expert advice.

Another team headed by Professor Gavin Giovannoni from Queen Mary University of London looked at a 12-week rehabilitation study. The study was specially designed to be carried out through online sessions.

The sessions aimed to maintain and improve upper limb function. And the team found people were enthusiastic to take part in an online version. It was accessible for people who might not be able to take part in research otherwise.

So even though there are now fewer restrictions to travel, it’s useful to keep the changes people found to be positive.

Explore our virtual support events

Making MS research more diverse

In clinical trials, there's often little diversity in participant ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geographical location. Findings might not be helpful for everybody without diversity. So a panel of researchers chaired by Roxanne Murray discussed representation at MS Frontiers.

This conversation aimed to inspire attendees to consider how to make their own research more representative. And how to make it easier for people from the whole MS community to take part in MS research.

Dr. Mitzi Joi Williams talked about how she designed her clinical trials with a diverse group of people with MS. This was done to understand the barriers that normally stop them from taking part. These might be practical reasons or social biases.

Read our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy

This year's MS Frontiers conference showed lots of great MS research happening right now. It'll hopefully inspire many new ideas and start new research collaborations.