Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network gets boost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network gets boost with $3.2 million grant
Funding to help expand pediatric multiple sclerosis
research and further insight into
the disease at any age
July 29, 2015 -- Toronto -- The Multiple
Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific
Research Foundation (MSSRF) announced today a $3.2 million grant
in support of the Canadian Pediatric
Demyelinating Disease Network. The Network, established in 2004,
has become one of the largest and most comprehensive pediatric MS
cohorts in the world, enabling researchers to tap into a unique
source to gather important insights about the cause and
progression of MS. Funding from the grant will allow the
Network
to build upon its existing studies to uncover the progressive
burden of pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) from childhood
through young adulthood. These discoveries will also help
researchers to better understand
the burden experienced by adults with MS, and aid in the early
identification of risk factors and imaging cues that are
suggestive of the disease, with the goal of improving treatment
outcomes and potentially preventing MS.
“This funding will allow us to study the impact of MS and of
other demyelinating conditions on quality of life, learning and
academic success, physical activity and overall health and
exercise in affected children and adolescents. We will also
evaluate the impact of MS on brain growth and variances in the
immune system,” says
Dr. Brenda Banwell, renowned Canadian MS neurologist, chief
of neurology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, adjunct
scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), and lead
principal investigator of the
study. “This study provides a window into the earliest aspects of
the disease and can ask unique questions that cannot be asked in
adult-onset MS.”
Most institutions within the Network will take on new objectives
as part of the ‘Progressive degeneration from onset in pediatric
multiple sclerosis: Evaluation of clinical and health-related
quality of life, early loss of brain integrity and accelerated
immunological senescence’ study. Under the leadership of Dr.
Banwell, these
objectives will focus on quality of life of children and
adolescents living with MS, the impact of the disease
on their transition to young adulthood, the impact of the disease
on parents and caregivers, the impact of MS on brain development
and cognitive performance, and the impact of MS on immune cells.
The study’s co-investigators include Dr. Ann Yeh (SickKids), Dr.
Amit Bar-Or (Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University),
Dr. Doug Arnold (Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill
University), and Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie (University of Manitoba).
“This research team has significantly changed the way the MS
community understands and manages MS in children and youth,” says
Dr. Karen Lee, vice
president, research at the MS Society of Canada. “It is
encouraging to see that they are taking their research to the
next level to better understand the progressive
burden of pediatric MS and probe into the psychosocial,
cognitive, and immunological impacts of the disease. This work
will tell us a lot about adults with MS as well, in particular
the early triggers and subclinical events that
may be missed.”
The Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network includes all 17 pediatric health care institutions in Canada, 6 additional Canadian sites in locations distant from a formal pediatric hospital as well as the more recent addition of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the U.S. Observing over 430 children and adolescents, the Network has uncovered an enormous wealth of research to date about the features of MS in children, risk factors that help to predict those at high-risk for developing MS, and potential treatment options.
For more information about the grant and the work of the Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network, the public may visit mssociety.ca.
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About multiple sclerosis, the MS Society of Canada and
the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research
Foundation
Canada has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world.
MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous
system comprising the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. It is
one of the most common neurological diseases affecting young
adults in Canada. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the
ages of 15 and 40, and the unpredictable effects of MS last for
the rest of their lives. The MS Society provides services to
people with MS and their families and funds research to find the
cause and cure for this disease. The
Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation funds large,
innovative, multi-centre collaborative studies that will lead to
major advances in the field of MS. A unique Canadian resource,
the Foundation’s main funding source is the MS Society of Canada.
Please visit mssociety.ca or
call 1-800-268-7582 to make a donation or
for more information.
Join the conversation and connect with the MS community online. Find the MS Society on Twitter, Instagram or like our page on Facebook.
Media contact: Lindsay Gulin, MS Society of Canada, 416-922-6600 ext. 3245, lindsay.gulin@mssociety.ca
