How the National MS Society is Driving Breakthroughs in Research
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is on a mission to create a world free of MS. As the largest MS organization in the world, it leads the global movement to cure the disease and improve the lives of those affected by it. Through donations, research, partnerships, and community involvement, the Society continues to push science forward faster than ever before.
Pathways to Cures: A Global Research Strategy
At the heart of the Society’s work is its research initiative called Pathways to Cures. This plan focuses on three main goals: stopping MS in its tracks, restoring lost function, and preventing the disease altogether. Updated in 2024, the Pathways to Cures roadmap reflects the latest scientific advancements and lays out how the Society funds research that fits into each of these goals.
Stopping MS means slowing or halting the disease before it causes more damage. Restoring function is about helping people with MS regain strength, balance, or memory that may have been affected. Ending MS through prevention looks at how to keep future generations from getting MS in the first place.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is not doing this alone. It works with scientists, healthcare professionals, and organizations around the world to share knowledge, speed up discoveries, and support cutting edge projects.
Collaborating for a Cure
The National MS Society has been part of many major international efforts to fight MS. One of the most important is the International Progressive MS Alliance. This group brings together researchers, health professionals, drug companies, and people living with MS to focus on progressive forms of the disease, which are often harder to treat.
Another major effort is the MS Outcome Assessments Consortium. This group is creating better ways to measure how well new treatments work in clinical trials, which will help new therapies become available faster. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society also helped launch large genetics studies, the International MS Microbiome Consortium, and several advisory committees that help guide how research is done around the world.
Over the years, The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has invested more than 1 billion dollars in MS research. It has helped launch early careers for many top scientists, pushed for new standards in MS diagnosis and care, and supported important studies in areas like stem cell therapy, race and gender differences, and viral causes like Epstein Barr virus.
These investments have led to real progress. Thanks to the Society’s support, there are now treatments that can modify the course of the disease, studies that offer hope for reversing damage, and better understanding of what causes MS in the first place.
The National MS Society started funding research back in 1946 with just three small projects. Today, it supports hundreds of efforts across the globe. Whether someone donates money, participates in one of the Society’s 300 events, or shares their story to raise awareness, every effort helps bring us closer to a world without MS.
By supporting the National MS Society, people become part of something much bigger, a movement that will ensure MS ends with us. Do your part and Donate Today