Duke Researcher Receives $44,000 Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Research
Bryan Cullen, PhD, to study Metagenomic Characterization of Viral
Infection in Multiple Sclerosis
Raleigh, N.C. (April 19, 2011) – Bryan Cullen, PhD., of Duke University’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology has been awarded a $44,000 research grant by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Cullen’s Pilot Research Project will focus on the metagenomic characterization of viral infection in multiple sclerosis. Despite progress in understanding and treating multiple sclerosis, researchers still do not know what causes the disease. One idea that some scientists and doctors share is that there is actually a viral infection in the brain and spinal cord that causes the immune system to attack the body’s own nervous system. No one has yet found a virus proven to cause MS, but this project is founded on the idea that most viruses that attack people have not yet been discovered.
Using powerful new gene sequencing technology, Cullen and colleagues are examining every possible gene and DNA/RNA sequence in the spinal fluid of people who have MS. This so-called “metagenomic” view of what is in the spinal fluid may reveal a virus that has not yet been discovered, and which is possibly connected to the onset of MS. Knowing the cause of MS would set the stage for ways to stop the disease and strategies to end MS forever, through prevention. Cullen joins a team of over 350 investigators in the U.S. and abroad supported financially by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Information provided by:
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Jen Gawler – [email protected]
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