December 2006

The MS Society, NI has continued to partially fund important research into how the blood-brain barrier is affected in multiple sclerosis. This work, under the supervision of Dr Stephen McQuaid in the Neuropathology Laboratory at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, has long been considered as key in the understanding of how there may be a relationship between inflammation and myelin damage in MS.

Dr McQuaid has been invited to give the keynote address on blood-brain barrier changes in multiple sclerosis at the 7th Cerebral Vascular Biology International Conference to be held in Ottawa, Canada in June 2007. This important conference will address key topics relating to anatomy, regulation, pathology of brain barriers and mechanisms of drug-delivery to the brain. The latter being a key fact in understanding how drugs being developed for the treatment of MS may be effective in controlling or preventing the condition. This work has mainly been possible due to the key role played by the Confocal Laser Microscope originally co-funded by the MS Society, NI in 1997.

Stephen has stated “Important research in MS in Belfast can only be sustained by the continuing support of the local MS Society and other funding bodies. We will continue to endeavour to understand the mechanisms of what is happening in the brain tissue of people with MS in the hope this will lead to the development of truly effective drug treatments for the condition. I am delighted this work has now been recognised internationally”.

More details of the research conducted by the University of Ulster