IN THE BEGINNING
As the provincial funder of health research in Saskatchewan, SHRF understands the importance of contributing to the end of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). That’s why we’ve been funding MS researchers for more than a decade. Through our vigorous peer review process, our funding has helped build capacity for world-renowned research that has a local and global impact.
As MS Awareness Month wraps up, we’d like to recognize some of our MS researchers and the work they’ve been doing, through SHRF funding and other funding sources, to contribute to the end of MS. We’d also like to celebrate our continued commitment to increasing capacity by welcoming Dr. Michael Levin, our latest Saskatchewan Research Chair in MS Clinical Research.
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
Canada has the highest rates of MS in the world, with Saskatchewan having the highest national rates, leaving no question that this province wants to see the end of this debilitating disease of the central nervous system. 2016-17 marked an important milestone when the inaugural Saskatchewan Research Chair in MS Clinical Research was filled by Dr. Michael Levin.
Dr. Levin comes to Saskatchewan from Memphis, Tennessee where he was a neurologist and professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center and Laboratory of Viral and Demyelinating Diseases.
In partnership with the Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation and with the support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Health Region, SHRF was pleased to help welcome Dr. Levin and his family to Saskatchewan where he will lead research that strives to identify causes, new and improved treatments and therapies, and ultimately the cure for MS.
With the cause of MS unknown, Dr. Levin’s research interests focus on acquired mutations versus inherited ones. Dr. Levin identified that “it will take a village” to find a cure for MS and to accomplish this, he believes all patients will be able to contribute. It is Saskatchewan’s people, the organizations and the collaborations that will ensure continued improvements to diagnosis and access to care, and an effective integration of clinical practice and research.
Though part of science is being patient, in coming to Saskatchewan Dr. Levin believes in the words of Winston Churchill: “Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
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