Myrte Strik Receives €350,000 Grant from MS Research Foundation

MBCIU alum Dr. Myrte Strik, along with Dr. Wietske van der Zwaag (Netherlands Brain Institute) and A/Prof. Menno Schoonheim (MS Center Amsterdam)  have received  a €350,000 grant from the MS Research Foundation. This  grant will  support the study of the role of the  cerebellum  in  Multiple Sclerosis (MS)  over the next three years.

Myrte Strik and Menno Schoonheim receive a €350,000 from the MS Research Foundation.

The cerebellum is involved in motor control,  speaking,  information processing,  and memory.  This  brain region  often becomes damaged or inflamed in people living with MS  and 10% of relapses are related to cerebellar damage. While damage in the cerebellum is associated with poor recovery and earlier onset of the progressive phase of MS  the exact role of the  cerebellum is unknown and likely underestimated.  There are technical challenges in imaging  MS lesions in the cerebellum  thus in clinical practice it is  often unmonitored by MRI.

This grant will support research to  develop  7 Tesla MRI  techniques  that will enable better imaging  of the cerebellum.  The technical development  is expected to  improve structural and functional  imaging of the cerebellum in order to  better detect subtle  lesions and  structural changes  in the cerebellum.  This imaging will also contribute to  a database that will be built with the  grant.

For further information please see  the  MS Research  Foundation website.