UCI Health MS Research Project

Funding by the Kathleen C. Moore Foundation

The Kathleen C. Moore Foundation’s generous support totaling $460,000 over six years (2017-2023), has enabled the UCI Health MS Program to initiate a clinical research project to study cognitive function testing and brain atrophy imaging by MRI for assessing disease activity and progression in Multiple Sclerosis. To establish the MS research program in Phase 1 (2017-19), UCI Health-Neurology recruited and hired one of the world’s foremost clinical MS diagnostics experts and translational neuro-immunologists, Dr. Alexander U. Brandt, from Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany. A renewal grant in Phase 2 (2020-23), will support Postdoctoral Fellows to assist Dr. Brandt in on-going imaging, mapping, analysis, and publishing.

Detailed Impact of Funds

In Phase 1 (2017-19), we achieved the following:

• Established a high-quality clinical imaging assessment protocol to benefit clinical services by raising overall quality and utilizing up-to-date procedures. All UCI MS Center patients are now imaged with the state-of-the-art 3 Tesla fMRI scanner.

• Implemented a platform for quantitative image analysis, as well as quality-of-life assessments, e.g. fatigue, depression, etc.

• Developed a groundbreaking AI-based lesion segmentation system and web-based information system, which automatically generates image analysis data in real-time for treating MS physicians during clinical care visits.

• Installed state-of-the-art Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machine to assess patients’ retina for retrograde neurodegeneration and inflammation, an increasingly important biomarker for research and care in MS and related disorders.

In Phase 2 (2020-23):
• Principle Investigator Dr. Brandt will recruit internationally for up to two highly-qualified Post-doctoral Fellows to assist in the quantitative mapping, microstructural analyses and reporting/publishing results related to the association of qMRI measures with clinical disability and other MS biomarkers including neurodegeneration, demyelination and inflammation.

Detailed Impact of Funds

In Phase 1 (2017-19), we achieved the following:

• Established a high-quality clinical imaging assessment protocol to benefit clinical services by raising overall quality and utilizing up-to-date procedures. All UCI MS Center patients are now imaged with the state-of-the-art 3 Tesla fMRI scanner.

• Implemented a platform for quantitative image analysis, as well as quality-of-life assessments, e.g. fatigue, depression, etc.

• Developed a groundbreaking AI-based lesion segmentation system and web-based information system, which automatically generates image analysis data in real-time for treating MS physicians during clinical care visits.

In Phase 2 (2020-23):
• Principle Investigator Dr. Brandt will recruit internationally for up to two highly-qualified Post-doctoral Fellows to assist in the quantitative mapping, microstructural analyses and reporting/publishing results related to the association of qMRI measures with clinical disability and other MS biomarkers including neurodegeneration, demyelination and inflammation.