As we charge forward into an uncertain 2025, there are many reasons to be optimistic. Here are seven.
1. More funding for Australian research: Next month, we will announce millions of dollars in funding for successful MS research projects, approved by the members of our diligent and hard-working Research Management Council. These grants will help improve the lives of people with MS and propel us further and faster down the pathways to cures. Stay tuned.
2. New therapies for MS: New therapies – for both relapsing and progressive forms – are in the pipeline and will be advanced during the course of the year. This includes BTK inhibitors, remyelination agents, CAR T-cell therapy and more. There’s also emerging research in areas such as gene editing and microbiome studies. Our EBV research platform is also coordinating exciting research projects across Australia, including two new EBV clinical trials, all of which are internationally linked.
3. PLATYPUS: At MSA, with support from MSWA, we have initiated the PLATYPUS trial in partnership with the UK MS Society’s OCTOPUS trial, seeking effective treatments for progressive forms of MS. We’ll be seeing the first participant enrolled in the coming months at the first of 10 Australian trial sites. This is a rapid, multi-arm, multi-stage trial, assessing a range of potential therapies at what is – for clinical trials – breakneck speed.
4. Prevention: We are partnering with MS Canada and other leading MS societies to develop a global research collaboration to find ways to achieve ultra-early detection of MS in the prodromal stage so we can intervene early and stop MS before it starts. Our first workshop, bringing together leading researchers along with people living with MS, takes place in April.
5. Lifestyle factors: Mid-year, we will release new resources for people living with MS, their carers and families that provide evidence-based information about modifiable lifestyle factors that can influence disease progression and disability. These include diet, exercise, gut health and supplementation.
6. Advocacy: At MSA, we are strong advocates for the 33,300 Australians living with MS. But as chair of the Neurological Alliance Australia, I advocate on behalf of seven million Australians, especially for fair funding of research, the development of a long overdue national neurological data set, a commitment to brain health and better access to treatment and care. With an election due shortly, we are advocating long and hard, especially through our Count Us In campaign. It is our aim that whoever is returned to government, will hear our voice and commit to a change.
7. Conference: The year will culminate in our biggest and best Progress in MS Research conference, to be held in Brisbane on December 3-5, showcasing these and many more reasons to be optimistic about how we are progressing to our ultimate goal, a world free from MS.
And one final reason for optimism, I’m looking forward to taking on The May 50K, ambitiously book-ending it with two half marathons. I’m also optimistic my arthritic legs will hold up, and I’ll smash my fundraising target. Our MS community deserves no less.
