Advancing Research and Care of Pediatric MS

While it was long believed that MS only affects adults, powerful new imaging technologies have revealed that MS can also arise in childhood. And yet, while there are 15 approved drugs for adults with MS, there are no approved therapies for children. Driven by this urgent unmet need, experts at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have joined forces with collaborators at other Harvard-affiliated hospitals to launch the Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Initiative. Rooted within the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, the initiative leverages the intellectual and clinical resources of BWH’s adult-focused Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center and the deep pediatric neuroscience capacities of Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Under the leadership of Howard Weiner, MD and Tanuja Chitnis, MD — global lead for three of the four international clinical trials for children with MS — the team has already made impressive progress, quickening the pace of discovery toward a tremendous impact on children with MS and their families.

Watch Dr. Chitnis talk to MD Magazine about what you need to know about pediatric MS research.