University of Manitoba neurologist wins Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research
Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie honored for deepening our understanding of factors that influence multiple sclerosis
Grant and Award AnnouncementIMAGE: RUTH ANN MARRIE, MD, PHD, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, IS THIS YEAR'S WINNER OF THE BARANCIK PRIZE FOR INNOVATION IN MS RESEARCH. HER RESEARCH TAKES A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND HOW MS AFFECTS INDIVIDUALS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR UNIQUE LIFETIME EXPERIENCES AND EXPOSURES. THESE MAY INCLUDE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES, SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, COMORBIDITIES (OTHER DISORDERS ALONG WITH MS), HEALTH BEHAVIORS, AND OTHER FACTORS. UNDERSTANDING HOW DIFFERENT FACTORS IMPACT THE ONSET AND EVOLUTION OF MS MAY OFFER NEW AVENUES FOR PERSONALIZED APPROACHES TO STOPPING MS AND FOR FINDING WAYS TO PREVENT IT. view more
CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
[New York, February 1, 2023] - Ruth Ann Marrie, MD, PhD, a neurologist and researcher at the University of Manitoba, is winner of this year’s Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (U.S.) awarded Marrie for watershed discoveries that deepen the understanding of how and when multiple sclerosis evolves, paving the way to more personalized medicine to stop and even prevent MS.
Marrie is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, where she holds the Waugh Family Chair in Multiple Sclerosis. She is also a Professor in the department of Community Health Sciences, and an Adjunct Scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy at the University of Manitoba.
Marrie’s research takes a holistic approach to understand how MS affects individuals in the context of their unique lifetime experiences and exposures. These may include adverse childhood experiences, social circumstances, comorbidities (other disorders along with MS), health behaviors, and other factors. Understanding how different factors impact the onset and evolution of MS may offer new avenues for personalized approaches to stopping MS and for finding ways to prevent it.
The impact of comorbidities had not been meaningfully explored in MS before Marrie began her work. In 2010, she published the first report suggesting that comorbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and high cholesterol could increase disability and its progression in people with MS. Her team has since shown that various comorbidities affect all aspects of the MS experience including time to diagnosis, severity of disability at diagnosis, the use of health care, relapse rates and mortality. Her findings have informed treatment guidelines by the American Academy of Neurology, the Canadian Network of MS Clinics, and the international MS Brain Health group.
Marrie broke new ground in 2012 with the publication of a landmark paper showing that people with MS increased their use of health care (doctor visits) during the five years before their first symptoms of MS occurred. These key findings led to the recognition that MS has a “prodrome,” an early phase of unspecific symptoms indicating a high risk for future diagnosis of MS. Further work to map out the prodrome may enable opportunities to intervene and prevent the development of full-blown MS.
“Dr. Marrie brings her perspective as a neurologist to ask research questions that are very relevant to improving people’s quality of life and providing answers that will increase our ability to stop and even prevent MS in the future,” said Bruce Bebo, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research Programs at the National MS Society, which administers the award. “She is also incredibly generous and very effective as a volunteer who provides critical leadership to MS research initiatives on a global scale.”
“It is an honor to receive this award recognizing the contributions of our team, and I am grateful to the Awards Committee and the Barancik Foundation” said Marrie.
Marrie is a coauthor of the Pathways to MS Cures Roadmap, a global collaboration led by the National MS Society that outlines the most promising research to stop MS, restore function, and end MS by prevention. She also played a key role in the National MS Society’s MS Prevalence Initiative, in which leading experts developed a feasible estimate of the number of people living with MS in the U.S. They showed that nearly 1 million people are living with MS in the U.S. – more than twice the previous estimate.
“Dr. Marrie is truly an exceptional clinician scientist whose work in MS research has demonstrated outstanding innovation and originality,” said Helen Tremlett, PhD, Professor, Division of Neurology, at the University of British Columbia, who nominated Marrie for the Barancik Prize.
Marrie received her undergraduate degree in chemistry and her medical degree from Dalhousie University, both with Distinction. She completed neurology training at McGill University. This was followed by a fellowship in MS at the Cleveland Clinic, supported by a Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship Award from the National MS Society. She later obtained a PhD in Epidemiology from Case Western Reserve University. Marrie serves in several leadership roles including Vice Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the International Progressive MS Alliance and Scientific Director of the NARCOMS Registry. She is past Chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS and former Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee for the MS Society of Canada. Marrie has been named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and is a recipient of the Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada Award and the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Distinguished Scientist Award.
Marrie will be honored and deliver the Prize lecture at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum on February 24, 2023.
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About the Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research The Barancik Prize seeks to recognize and encourage exceptional innovation and originality in scientific research relevant to multiple sclerosis, with emphasis on impact and potential of the research to lead to pathways for the treatment and cure for MS, and scientific accomplishments that merit recognition as a future leader in MS research. The international prize is administered through the National MS Society (U.S.) and made possible by the generosity of the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (U.S.) The National MS Society, founded in 1946, funds cutting-edge research, drives change through advocacy, and provides programs and services to help people affected by MS live their best lives. Connect to learn more and get involved: nationalMSsociety.org, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or 1-800-344-4867.
About Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. There is currently no cure for MS. Symptoms vary from person to person and range from numbness and tingling, to mobility challenges, blindness and paralysis. An estimated 1 million people live with MS in the United States. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and it affects women three times more than men.
Kessler Foundation team to study impact of strategy-based cognitive training on new learning and memory in individuals with multiple sclerosis
Double-blind randomized clinical trial will assess efficacy of a protocol based on Kessler Foundation Strategy-based Training to Enhance Memory (KF-STEM™)
Peer-Reviewed PublicationIMAGE: DR. CHIARAVALLOTI IS DIRECTOR OF THE CENTERS FOR NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE, AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH AT KESSLER FOUNDATION. view more
CREDIT: KESSLER FOUNDATION
East Hanover, NJ. February 1, 2023. Despite the prevalence of disabling cognitive deficits in the population with multiple sclerosis (MS), few treatment protocols are supported by Class I research evidence. To address this need, MS researchers at Kessler Foundation plan a double-blind, randomized trial of an 8-session protocol for cognitive rehabilitation based on the Kessler Foundation Strategy-based Training to Enhance Memory (KF-STEM™).
Their open access article, "Kessler Foundation strategy-based training to enhance memory (KF-STEM™): Study protocol for a single-site double-blind randomized clinical trial in multiple sclerosis” (doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2022.101026) was published online November 3, 2022, in Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451865422001430. The authors are Nancy D. Chiaravalloti, PhD, Erica Weber, PhD, Ekaterina Dobryakova, PhD, Amanda Botticello, Ph, MPH, Yael Goverover, PhD, Nancy B. Moore, MA, and John DeLuca, PhD, of Kessler Foundation.
The team plans to enroll 120 individuals with MS-related impairments in new learning and memory. All will undergo neuropsychological evaluation (for objective cognitive performance), assessment of global functioning (to assess everyday functioning and quality of life), functional magnetic resonance imaging (to examine impact of treatment on patterns of cerebral activation). Longer term efficacy will be assessed by 6-month follow up, and whether booster sessions can maintain efficacy over time.
Cognitive deficits often have a negative impact on the lives of persons with MS, according to Dr. Chiaravalloti, director of the Centers for Neuropsychology, Neuroscience, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research. “Treating these deficits can improve how they function in their everyday lives, at home, at work, and in their communities. Through this rigorously designed trial, we plan to complete the bench-to-bedside translation of our scientific research and maximize its real-world benefits for individuals living with MS.”
This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (1R01HD095915).
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
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Graphic: Nancy D. Chiaravallotti, PhD
Caption: Dr. Chiaravalloti is director of the Centers for Neuropsychology, Neuroscience, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation.
JOURNAL
Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Kessler Foundation strategy-based training to enhance memory (KF-STEM):Study protocol for a single-site double-blind randomized clinical trial in multiple sclerosis
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