NIH Funds Genetic Research into Cause of Nerve Damage in MS

The Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) was awarded a $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study molecular changes in the human genome which may be responsible for damage to the central nervous system as seen in multiple sclerosis.

Researchers aim to explain how and why certain white blood cells contribute to the development of MS.  “We want to understand the factors that make these cells target the spinal cord and brain to cause disease,” said Estelle Bettelli, PhD, BRI Assistant Member and co-principal investigator of the study in the August 4, 2013 press release.

"With Dr. Bettelli's research advances and with the new technological innovations in genome research, we can look at specific marks present in the genome of these cells and understand how they are generated and how they can be controlled," says co-principal investigator Steven Ziegler, PhD, Director of the BRI Immunology Research Program.

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NIH Awards $1.9 million to Find Genetic Markers to Explain How White Blood Cells Cause Damage in MS