2014 Funding opportunity Call for research published on WWW.AISM.IT. It will be financed with 3 million euros

3 million euros were allocated for research on causes, treatment , improving the quality of  life of people with MS: “To finance all projects of excellence we would need at least twice that sum – says Mario Alberto Battaglia, Chairman  of Italian MS Foundation-: we need everybody’s contribution”.

On www.aism.it rules and forms to request the funding.

The annual Call reconfirmed 3 million euros of investment. By this Call, Italian MS Society through its Foundation  promotes research that faces practically all the needs of each person affected by multiple sclerosis, who has the right to research of excellence, giving innovative, decisive exact and correct answers.

In 2013 the Italian MS Society, through its Foundation, financed 35 research projects (27 research projects and 8 fellowships) for a total of more than 3 million euros. These projects involved 39 Italian laboratories in 11 different Italian Regions and 3 foreign laboratories.

Selection of projects approved by the Foundation followed the international peer-review process and involved 18 expert scientists who make up the Italian MS Foundation Scientific Committee, (six of them come from other countries than Italy), who also had advice from 164 referees from 20 different countries: thanks to this rigorous system it was possible to select the best proposals.

A total of 141 projects arrived before the deadline, in April, (111 were research projects, 8 training fellowships, 17 research fellowships, and 5 senior research fellowships): among these, 71 projects for a total funding of 9.703.207 € reached the final step of the evaluation process. The best projects were chosen among these ones.

The 35 projects of excellence that were selected and financed with the 2013 Italian MS Foundation Call are about areas of study that represent a priority in the research about MS. 60 % of research projects that were financed were dedicated to the knowledge of risk factors, the cause of the disease and its progression and search for new treatments and the final cure: mechanisms of development of the neuronal damage were studied, together with mechanisms of repair of brain lesions responsible for disease progressionand preclinical validation of new therapeutic targets.. 40 % of the research projects that were financed with the 2013 Italian MS Foundation Call involves clinical studies towards the development of a more precise diagnosis of the different forms of the disease and new personalized treatments that are more effective and safer for people with MS. Among these, about 30 % is focused on the development and validation of rehabilitative and symptomatic therapies: a research “for today” to make life better for everyone living with MS and their loved ones.

Projects that were financed with the 2013 Italian MS Foundation Call  are therefore added to the number of special projects and programs: the development of a national register for MS, the clinical study on mesenchymal stem cells MESEMS, the PenSAMI clinical study for the validation of a home treatment for serious forms of MS, infrastructure for magnetic resonance imaging to support the development and validation of new rehabilitative protocols and international initiative on progressive forms (Progressive MS Alliance funding).

“Today  Italian MS Society through its Foundation confirms its work in promoting and financing research. We allocated more than 5 million euros for the 2013 Italian MS Foundation Call and special projects. To be even closer to people with MS, since we are sure that our contribution to promote the right to a rigorous research and excellence of Italian MS Foundation researchers is the way to respond to the needs of people with MS, we need more funds. Four million euros more are needed to be added to the allocated 5 million euros to answer the request for a total of 9 million euros to fund the best research projects about MS in Italy and in the world” adds Battaglia.

A summary of Italian MS Society research

- 46 million euros invested in research in the last 23 years
- 345 researchers financed by AISM since 1987: 76 per cent of them keep doing research on MS
- 402 total publications by researchers financed by Italian MS Society made since 2007
- 2 international research projects where Italian MS Society is leader
- It is the third association in the world for funds on MS research
- It is the first association in Italy for funds on MS research
- 3.2 million euros allocated for the Italian MS Foundation Call
- 35 research projects financed with the last Call: 27 research projects and 8 fellowships
- 2 million euros destined to special projects in 2013

2014 Italian MS Foundation Call and the career training of researchers
With the 2014 Italian MS Foundation Call  announcement  for a total of 3 million euros, Italian MS Foundation confirms its commitment to support projects lasting one, two or three years to guarantee 360-degree research on MS, therefore not excluding any area of priority for research.

Moreover, in its annual funding opportunity announcement Italian MS Society and its Foundation pay great attention to support the career in science for talented researchers, offering training fellowships to new graduates and research fellowships to researchers who are already able to propose and carry out an autonomous project even in the context of innovative lines of research.

The Foundation also promotes the program named after Rita Levi Montalcini, former honorary president of the Association, that was created to facilitate the return of researchers from abroad, or to allow their transfer to an institute of excellence in Italy. It is reserved to established researchers on the international level, who specialize in a specific area of research on MS, and who run an independent research program. The Foundation at the end of the grant, together with the Institute which hosted the researcher, will evaluate the possibility of adopting the researcher offering an additional career path in research on multiple sclerosis.

Since 1997 Italian MS Society throughits Foundation has funded a total of 345 researchers on MS. Italian MS Society research has definitely turned into a real, consolidated and acknowledged school, which is making its mark nationally and internationally. Moreover, the fact that 76 %of funded researchers continue to do MS research demonstrates a strong ability of Italian MS Society to attract, support and accompany the best researchers throughout their careers.

The Italian Multiple Sclerosis Society, together with its Foundation, is the only organization in Italy that operates at 360 degrees on multiple sclerosis to promote, direct and fund scientific research, promote and deliver health and social services on a national and local level, represent and affirm the rights of the 70 thousand Italians affected by the disease, so that they are fully involved in their lives and self-sufficient.

For information on the grants, please consult www.aism.it or write to the Italian MS Foundation secretariat at: fism@aism.it

FOCUS
Italy is a country with a high-level risk for MS

- Its incidence is 4 per 100 thousand inhabitants every year
- There is one diagnosis every four hours
- 70 thousand people are living with MS in Italy, today
- There are 2000 new cases every year, mostly women and young people
- It usually starts between 20 and 40 years of age
- MS in Italy has a cost of 2.7 million euros