Will you help us take the next big step towards a cure for MS?

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that can have a serious impact on a person’s quality of life.

Instead of protecting against viruses and germs, the immune system attacks the nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. It can cause pain, dizziness, fatigue, loss of balance, issues with memory and thinking, speech and vision problems, and bowel and bladder problems, which can result in serious disability.

With more than 100,000 people living with Multiple Sclerosis in the UK, it is the most common cause of physical disability in adults under 50.

Currently, there is no effective treatment for MS. Existing treatments focus on alleviating symptoms and their impact on long-term disability is modest at best. But Sheffield scientists are determined to find better treatments – and even a cure – for MS.

Donate to MS Research

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"Eleven years ago, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Nowadays, my disease controls my life. I feel exhausted all over, right down to my fingertips. Some days, every move I make is like wading through mud in wet, heavy clothes.

But the research going on here in Sheffield gives me hope. Hope that one day, I’ll receive that call to say a cure’s been found."

Allison Parfitt, Sheffield

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Sheffield is a leading UK centre for MS research

We need to raise £200,000 to fund a three-year research project into MS. The project, led by Professor John Snowden and Professor Basil Sharrack, aims to build on their clinical research into a new Stem Cell Therapy (AHSCT). This therapy destroys the faulty immune system that causes MS, which is then replaced by a new healthy one, grown from a patient's own stem cells. The results have been amazing, for the first time ever clinicians have been able to reverse disability in some patients - stopping MS, right in its tracks.

Stem cell therapy is an aggressive treatment and doesn't work for everyone. The next stage of their research will look at finding a way to predict which patients are likely to benefit from it and find new therapies for those who won't.

The research will improve our understanding of MS, identifying new ways to measure and track the progression of the disease which will allow doctors to predict how MS is likely to develop in their patients, so they can prescribe the most effective treatments at the most effective time, to prevent the onset of long-term disability.

By supporting our appeal, you will improve the way that patients with MS are treated – helping to prevent their condition progressing into permanent disability and improving their quality of life. And you’ll play a part in research that could cure MS once and for all.

Yes, I want to help find a cure for MS