Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar;28(3):331-345.
doi: 10.1177/13524585221075990.

Pathways to cures for multiple sclerosis: A research roadmap

Bruce F Bebo Jr  1 , Mark Allegretta  1 , Douglas Landsman  1 , Kathy M Zackowski  1 , Fiona Brabazon  1 , Walter A Kostich  1 , Timothy Coetzee  1 , Alexander Victor Ng  2 , Ruth Ann Marrie  3 , Kelly R Monk  4 , Amit Bar-Or  5 , Caroline C Whitacre  1
Affiliations

Pathways to cures for multiple sclerosis: A research roadmap

Bruce F Bebo Jr et al. Mult Scler. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a growing global health challenge affecting nearly 3 million people. Progress has been made in the understanding and treatment of MS over the last several decades, but cures remain elusive. The National MS Society is focused on achieving cures for MS.

Objectives: Cures for MS will be hastened by having a roadmap that describes knowledge gaps, milestones, and research priorities. In this report, we share the Pathways to Cures Research Roadmap and recommendations for strategies to accelerate the development of MS cures.

Methods: The Roadmap was developed through engagement of scientific thought leaders and people affected by MS from North America and the United Kingdom. It also included the perspectives of over 300 people living with MS and was endorsed by many leading MS organizations.

Results: The Roadmap consist of three distinct but overlapping cure pathways: (1) stopping the MS disease process, (2) restoring lost function by reversing damage and symptoms, and (3) ending MS through prevention. Better alignment and focus of global resources on high priority research questions are also recommended.

Conclusions: We hope the Roadmap will inspire greater collaboration and alignment of global resources that accelerate scientific breakthroughs leading to cures for MS.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis; global health; knowledge gaps; patient advocacy; research priorities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Bruce Bebo, Mark Allegretta, Douglas Landsman, Kathy Zackowski, Fiona Brabazon, Walter Kostich, and Timothy Coetzee are employees of the National MS Society and have no other relevant conflicts to disclose. Alexander Ng has no relevant conflicts to disclose. Ruth Ann Marrie is a co-investigator on a study funded by Roche and Biogen (no funds to Dr. Marrie or her institution). Kelly Monk has no relevant conflicts to disclose. Amit Bar-Or has received research grants and consulting fees from Biogen, grants, and consulting fees from Genetech/Roche, consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKlein, research grants and consulting fees from Merck/EMD Serono, consulting fees from Medimmune, research grants and consulting fees from Novartis, consulting fees from Celgene/Receptos, consulting fees from Sanofi-Genzyme, consulting fees from Atara Biotherapeutics, and Jansen/Actelion. None of these disclosures are related to this work. Caroline Whitacre has no relevant conflicts to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The evolution of MS and opportunities for the discovery of cures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Walton C, King R, Rechtman L, et al.. Rising prevalence of multiple sclerosis worldwide: Insights from the Atlas of MS, third edition. Mult Scler 2020; 26(14): 1816–1821. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bar-Or A, Li R. Cellular immunology of relapsing multiple sclerosis: Interactions, checks, and balances. Lancet Neurol 2021; 20(6): 470–483. - PubMed
    1. Bose G, Thebault SDX, Atkins HL, et al.. Does resetting the immune system fix multiple sclerosis. Can J Neurol Sci 2020; 47(1): 1–10. - PubMed
    1. Eshaghi A, Young AL, Wijeratne PA, et al.. Identifying multiple sclerosis subtypes using unsupervised machine learning and MRI data. Nat Commun 2021; 12: 210408. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marrie RA. Comorbidity in multiple sclerosis: Past, present and future. Clin Invest Med 2019; 42: E5–E12. - PubMed

Publication types