Progression in MS Webinar – 2021 Webinar Series – Webinar 2
Watch our webinar to learn more about progression in MS and the advances being made in research.
The New Zealand Multiple Sclerosis Research Trust hosted its webinar on Progression in MS on Wednesday 22nd September 2021.
Multiple Sclerosis is often associated with gradual, progressive worsening of disability. Unlike the episodic, relapsing component of MS, the progression is relative resistant to the presently available disease modifying therapies. While disease and disability progression naturally occurs in all forms of MS, between 12-16% of New Zealanders have a progressive form of MS at diagnosis. However, promising new evidence has emerged from randomised trials and from observational studies.
Our first speaker, Professor Tomas Kalincik, is a Neurologist and researcher at the Royal Melbourne Hospital MS Centre and working with the CORe research group and MS Base. Professor Kalincik provided an overview of recent developments in measurement and prevention of MS progression.
Our second speaker, Dr Julia Morahan, is Head of Research at MS Australia. MS Australia is a managing member of the International Progressive MS Alliance and at the forefront of stimulating and investing in research. She discussed the work of the International Progressive MS Alliance, its current focus and the research it is supporting.
About Professor Tomas Kalincik and the CORe Research Group
Professor Tomas Kalincik is Dame Kate Campbell Professorial Fellow, the head of the Clinical Outcomes Research (CORe) Unit at the University of Melbourne and of the MS Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Together with his research group, CORe, Tomas specialises in analytics of observational data in neurology. He is the chair of the Scientific Leadership Group of the global MSBase collaboration. He has led a number of international collaborative research initiatives – including studies of comparative effectiveness of MS therapies, management of treatment failure and individual treatment response. His main research interests span treatment outcomes in MS and other neuroimmunological diseases, individualised therapy, prognostics (including emerging biomarkers), causal inference, epidemiology and utility of volumetric MRI. He is the convenor of the international CORe Advanced Statistics Course, endorsed by the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS.
About the International Progressive MS Alliance
The International Progressive MS Alliance is a global collaboration of MS organisations, researchers, health professionals, the pharmaceutical industry, companies, trusts, foundations, donors and people affected by MS – working together to address the unmet needs of people with Progressive MS. The Alliance is focused on the development of effective treatments for people with progressive forms of MS to improve quality of life worldwide.