IDIBAPS shares one milion euros to develop a project on Multiple Sclerosis

Neuroscientist Elena H. Martínez-Lapiscina, researcher of the IDIBAPS, shares with other XXXX experts a million euros that the Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation (GMSI) award to the best translational research projects which contribute to increase or improve the knowledge on Multiple Sclerosis ( MS) and the development of new therapies. Dr. Elena H. Martínez-Lapiscina project, presented at the ECTRIMS congress (European Comitee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis ), aims to give a boost to the understanding of the disease and the developement of therapies through the analysis of the retina of affected patients.

The purpose of this research is to monitor molecular changes experienced by retinal neurons in patients with MS. The goal is focused on providing information that could allow, on the one hand, developing new therapies, and on the other hand, controlling the therapeutic response of patients to current drugs. All this is expected to be achieved through an optical device using Raman spectroscopy, a technique that measures molecular changes occured in the retina of patients quickly and without using any contrast.

While it is known that in MS inflammatory damage of neurons leads to neuronal loss, the relationship between these two mechanisms is not fully known. And it is precisely the understanding of this relationship that could help driving therapeutical efforts and the phenomenon on which the winning project focuses its determination.

Dra. Elena H. Martínez-Lapiscina was the student who got the best score of more than 10,000 applicants Resident Intern examination (MIR) in 2008. She combined her residency at the Hospital de Navarra with a PhD cum laude on the effects of healthy eating on cognitive function . She started on 2012 a Fellowship in medical image at the Neuroimmunology center with Dr. Pablo Villoslada. Her research focuses on the cause and development of biomarkers for MS and neuromyelitis optica.

A prestigious grant

GMSI is an initiative launched by the pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA. In this 32th edition, there have been awarded four of the 260 research projects submitted. A scientific committee has analyzed the proposals and has chosen four winners based on their relevance to clinical practice, innovation, feasibility and practical utility.

- See more at: http://www.idibaps.org/actualitat/en_noticies/22159/idibaps-shares-one-milion-euros-to-develop-a-project-on-multiple-sclerosis#sthash.3q0tHxMU.dpuf