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Adam Carpenter describes Multiple Sclerosis (MS) as “a complex,
fascinating disease that involves the interaction of two of the most
complicated aspects of human biology, the nervous system and the
immune system.” MS is a chronic neurologic disease that typically
begins in the 20s or 30s, and the prevalence of MS in Minnesota is among the highest in the country (due in part to higher risk for MS in those of northern European ancestry, and in those who grew up in
temperate zones of the world). While MS is seldom fatal, it is a major cause of neurologic disability and can affect vision, strength, sensation, cognition, bladder and sexual function, and walking ability.
Carpenter, an assistant professor of neurology, notes that while MS
treatment has advanced tremendously in recent years “the available treatments are still only partially effective, in part because we still do not really understand what causes MS.” The prevailing hypothesis holds that MS is an autoimmune disorder, in which T cells lose their tolerance to “self” and attack the myelin that insulates nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. More recently it has been hypothesized that MS may be caused by a degenerative process of nerve cells and/or the glial cells that make myelin. It is possible, says Carpenter, that both hypotheses may hold in different cases, which would require different treatments for
different forms and stages of the disease.
As a first year CAPS scholar, Carpenter is allocated 75 percent protected time to pursue his research interests in combining structural and
functional brain imaging techniques to better understand MS
pathophysiology. His CAPS project seeks to evaluate a new way of
looking at the brain using MEG (magnetoencephalography), which uses an array of axial gradiometers to detect the very small magnetic fields that result from neural activity. He will work with a multidisciplinary mentoring team including: Gareth Parry, M.D., professor, neurology; Apostolos Georgopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., professor, neuroscience; Kelvin O. Lim, M.D., professor, psychiatry; and Lynn E. Eberly, Ph.D., associate professor, biostatistics. Carpenter and his mentoring team are pursuing a pilot observational study during the CAPS fellowship, to look at the functional brain signals in MS patients with different types and severity of the disease, and how these brain signals are affected by abnormalities of tissue microstructures seen using advanced MRI techniques. This combined approach could help identify the different forms of MS earlier, and provide a more sensitive measure of treatment effects.
Dr. Carpenter is particularly appreciative of the comprehensive clinical
research training provided by the NIH Roadmap K12 program. “The CAPS program not only provides me the time and opportunity to work with an incredible group of mentors to help improve the lives of patients with MS,” he says, but also focuses on improving skills such as grantsmanship,
networking, collaborative research, and scientific writing. “It’s a fantastic program for junior faculty interested in clinical research.”
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