Bulletin #0110
Community connections, accolades and new funding for our MS Research Flagship Honoured: Dr Yuan Zhou received a Tasmanian Tall Poppy Science Award for 2023.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating disease of the central nervous system caused by both environmental and genetic factors. There are more than 33,000 Australians living with MS, with Tasmania having the highest prevalence. The good news is that our MS Research Flagship is continuing to build momentum towards improving outcomes for people living with MS, and the past few months have been busier than ever. Dr Yuan Zhou was honoured with a Tasmanian Tall Poppy Science Award for 2023. These annual awards, created by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), honour up-and-coming scientists who combine worldclass research with an enthusiastic commitment to communicating science. In July, the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) announced $2 million in funding for Dr Zhou and his team for new research to investigate the connection between
Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis. The knowledge gained by this research will be used to greatly improve MS diagnosis, treatment and prevention. To mark World MS Day at the end of May, the Flagship hosted its annual ‘Research with Connections’ symposium in Hobart. The event brought together more than 100 people, the majority MS consumer and community members. They all braved the cold (kunanyi / Mt Wellington was snow-capped!) for the promise of an exciting program of world-class
research and community presentations and were rewarded in spades. All in all the day was a great celebration of the power of consumer involvement and connections between researchers and community. A significant paper, co-authored by the Flagship’s Professor Bruce
The breakthrough findings open the door to preventing long-term disability
Taylor, was published in Nature in June. It detailed a study of more than 22,000 people with MS which identified the first genetic marker for MS severity. The breakthrough findings open the door to preventing long-term disability. The research was the result of a large international collaboration of more than 70 institutions from around the world, including Menzies. The paper contained data from some 250 Tasmanians with MS, which had been collected over the past 13 years and collated at Menzies.
Menzies Bulletin
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