New $1.3M study to discover how pregnancy improves Multiple Sclerosis symptoms

Neurologist and Multiple Sclerosis specialist, Dr Nevin John, has been awarded the coveted NHMRC Ideas Grant to understand how pregnancy improves the effects of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

The $1.36 million grant will fund the study over 4 years, enabling Dr John and his team to recruit participants and analyse their MRI scans and blood to help solve this medical mystery.

MS is a chronic autoimmune condition affecting the brain and spine. Of those affected, 75 percent are females, and it is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

The condition encompasses both inflammation and neurodegeneration. While there are disease-modifying therapies for inflammation, there is currently no treatment for neurodegeneration that can lead to increased disability. 

MS is an unpredictable disease that affects people differently. Some people with MS may have only mild symptoms. Others may lose their ability to see clearly, write, speak, or walk when communication between the brain and other parts of the body becomes disrupted.

‘Pregnancy improves MS outcomes, but we don’t understand why,’ said Dr Nevin John. 

‘With thanks to the NHMRC grant, we will undertake a prospective cohort study using advanced MRI scanning and blood analysis to investigate how pregnancy improves MS outcomes.

‘By understanding the “how”, we hope it will lead to the development of new treatments of the future for those with MS.’

Dr John and his team plan to recruit 42 participants to advance the MRI study. They will collect MRI scans, blood-hormonal assays (a blood test that measures hormone levels), protein studies, and measures of nerve cell loss.

‘Congratulations to John and his team. Being awarded the NHMRC Ideas grant is a remarkable achievement for an early career academic researcher, as the success rate for the grant is 10.1 per cent,’ said Professor Henry Ma, Director of Monash Health’s Neurology Department.