Local Researchers Receive Grants from National MS Society

Nov. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- Raleigh, N.C. (November 22, 2011) – The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has awarded research grants to two local researchers for their work with multiple sclerosis.  Jenny Ting, PhD of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded $526,789 to study new ways to prevent the immune system from attacking myelin in animal models of MS. Manzoor Bhat, PhD, MedScD, also of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded $621,344 to study changes in nerve fiber structure that affect the function of nerves for clues to preventing disability in MS. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that stops the flow of information from the brain to the body, affecting 5,400 people in eastern North Carolina and 400,000 people in the US.

The National MS Society has just launched 32 new MS research projects representing multiyear commitments of $16 million. These new projects are part of our comprehensive research program that will invest $45.2 million in 2012 for new and ongoing research projects and Fast Forward partnerships aimed at stopping MS, restoring what's been lost, and ending MS forever. The Eastern NC chapter is honored to have two local researchers in the fight against this disease. The results of Ting’s research should lead to better understanding of processes that trigger immune attacks in MS and offer new targets for developing therapies to better turn off those attacks.  Bhat’s research could lead to important clues about how to prevent nodal disorganization or treat the impacts of axon degeneration that leads to neurological deficits in MS.

For more information on this and other current MS research, visit www.nationalMSsociety.org/research.

About Multiple Sclerosis:
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society:
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. The Eastern North Carolina Chapter, located in Raleigh, serves the over 5,400 individuals affected by MS in our 49-county area.  We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2008 alone, the Society devoted over $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. The Society also invested nearly $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world.   We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. If you or someone you know has MS, please contact the National MS Society today at www.nationalMSsociety.org/nct  or 1-800 FIGHT MS to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.