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Johns Hopkins Gets Research Grant as Part of Global MS Study - 09/11/2014

Johns Hopkins Gets Research Grant as Part of Global MS Study

Release Date: September 11, 2014
peter calabresi
Peter Calabresi, M.D.
Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine

The Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center is the recipient of one of 22 research grants offered to investigators in nine countries by the International Progressive MS Alliance, a worldwide collaborative focused on finding solutions to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The recipients of the grants in the first round of such funding were announced Thursday at a meeting of MS scientists in Boston. Accepting the award for Johns Hopkins was Peter Calabresi, M.D., director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center.

The funding launches an ambitious program that will invest nearly $30 million over the next five years in finding treatments and solutions for progressive MS. It also will forge international collaborative research networks, which will leverage research already underway and stimulate new research through the alliance’s significant funding programs. For this initial short-term offering, 195 research proposals were received from 22 countries. 

“The Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center is very excited about receiving this award from the Progressive Alliance, and we are looking forward to initiating this novel clinical trial in progressive MS,” says Calabresi. The center will receive $90,000 now but could receive more from another round of funding. “If this pilot is successful, we would be considered for a much bigger grant,” Calabresi adds.

“The research community’s response to our first call for innovative research proposals has been exceptional, and it speaks to both the unmet need and the galvanizing force of this international initiative,” says Cynthia Zagieboylo, chair of the Alliance’s Executive Committee and president and CEO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “For the first time, MS societies around the globe are funding research together without considering geography to find the answers the progressive MS community urgently needs.”

About the International Progressive MS Alliance
The International Progressive MS Alliance is an international initiative that connects resources and experts around the world with the goal of speeding the development of new treatments for progressive MS by funding the best research. The alliance is led with management from MS societies in the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom, and the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. It is expanding financial and resource support from these and other organizations, including the MS societies of Denmark and Spain.  Learn more at ProgressiveMSAlliance.org.

About Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a $7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading academic health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. JHM's vision, “Together, we will deliver the promise of medicine,” is supported by its mission to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, JHM educates medical students, scientists, health care professionals and the public; conducts biomedical research; and provides patient-centered medicine to prevent, diagnose and treat human illness. JHM operates six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, and more than 35 Johns Hopkins Community Physicians sites. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, opened in 1889, has been ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 22 years of the survey’s 25 year history, most recently in 2013. For more information about Johns Hopkins Medicine, its research, education and clinical programs, and for the latest health, science and research news, visit hopkinsmedicine.org.

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