Kessler Foundation receives Collaborative MS Research Center Award

John DeLuca, Ph.D., is principal investigator for $821,000 grant that funds new MS Collaborative Network of New Jersey

Kessler Foundation is the recipient of a MS Research Center Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. John DeLuca, PhD, is principal investigator for the five-year $821,000 grant, which will fund the MS Collaborative Network of New Jersey (MSCNNJ). The MSCNNJ will bring together the Foundation's experts in mobility and cognitive research to advance understanding of cognitive-motor interaction in MS. Dr. DeLuca is Senior Vice President of Research and Training at the Foundation.

"We're very pleased that the Collaborative MS Research Center Award is going to a world-renowned team at the Kessler Foundation," commented Bruce F. Bebo, Jr., PhD, Associate Vice President of Discovery Research at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. "This is the first time that one of our Centers will be focusing on rehabilitation research to help people with MS live their best lives."

The newly funded MSCNNJ will leverage the significant base funding already obtained by Foundation scientists in the areas of cognitive rehabilitation, advanced brain imaging, fatigue, and motor rehabilitation, to design and conduct novel studies on cognitive-motor interactions in persons with MS. "Our goal is to conduct new and innovative research and expand professional training in this unique area of investigation, leading to discoveries that become part of tomorrow's treatment for persons with MS," said Dr. DeLuca. "Kessler Foundation is very pleased to lead the Society's new initiative in rehabilitation research in MS."

The MSCNNJ funds one major research project and one to two pilot projects per year for each of the five years of the grant. In addition, while the MSCNNJ already has significant external funding for post-doctoral training in clinical rehabilitation research, supplemental funding will be available to expand fellowship opportunities for post-doctoral fellows and graduate students interested in rehabilitation research in MS.