The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Centre for MS research

The centre was officially opened September 28th 2010.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a immune-mediated disease causing multi-focal inflammatory damage and loss of nerve fibre insulation in the central nervous system. The onset of the disease is usually between 20 and 40 years of age. Norway is a high prevalence area of MS with about 8.000 patients, and so presents a unique opportunity, as well as a special responsibility, to establish high quality MS research in the country.

Treatment strategies aim to reduce relapse frequency and prevent progression of permanent disability. No curative treatment is available for MS, but corticosteroid treatment to shorten relapses and immunomodulatory therapies are important to modify the disease course.

The assignment of the K.G. Jebsen Centre for MS-Research is to identify biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity for multiple sclerosis. The overall strategy is to take advantage of the unique Norwegian MS Registry and Biobank that include about 5.000 patients, 2.500 blood samples, 300 CSF samples, and tissue samples from about 80 patients.

The K.G Jebsen Centre for MS-Research will hopefully contribute to identification of MS specific biomarkers for diagnosis, disease activity and treatment response to help understanding the pathogenisis of MS.

Find much more information at our web pages.