Research
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is one of the most prevalent diseases of the central nervous system, affecting over two million people worldwide. Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world with an estimated 75,000 Canadians living with this disease. The economical and personal burden of this disease makes unraveling its causes and the development of knowledge based treatments a high priority.
Familial Genetics
Approximately 10-15% of all patients suffering from multiple sclerosis have a first or second degree relative also diagnosed with the disease. The aggregation of multiple sclerosis within families highlights the existence of a single major genetic component determining the onset of disease in these patients.
Population Analysis
Over 13,000 biological samples from patients and healthy controls have been collected for the identification of genetic risk factors of multiple sclerosis. In contrast to the rare variants of strong effect observed in familial forms, risk variants are common genetic changes that results in a moderate increase to develop disease.