Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) & its Foundation Fund New Projects to Advance MS Care

Hackensack, NJ -- (SBWire) -- 02/17/2015 --The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) and the Foundation of CMSC (FCMSC) announce the recipients of 7 research awards. These projects will help healthcare care professionals and members of CMSC to provide optimum care to people with multiple sclerosis in the areas of rehabilitation, psychosocial, epidemiology, and therapeutics.

The CMSC funded research projects, all in the area of rehabilitation care, that were recently granted funds include:

"Physical Therapy Enhanced with a Virtual Environment: Impact on Ambulation, Mood and Cognition," by Francios Bethoux, MD, Mellen Center for MS Treatment & Research, Cleveland Clinic, and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of MS Care (IJMSC).

"Computerized Cognitive Training and Cognitive-Motor Interference in MS," by Jacob Sonoff, PhD, Exercise Neuroscience Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"Long-term Neuroplasticity after Rehabilitation for Progressive MS," by Victor Mark, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham MS Center.

The FCMSC funded research projects include research entitled:

"The Spectrum of Psychiatric Disease Among Veterans with MS: Prevalence and Utilization of Mental Health Services," by John R. Rinker II, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham MS Center, mentored by Foundation member, John F. Kurtze, MD, FAAN

"A Qualitative Study of Posttraumatic Growth in Partner of Individuals with MS," is psychosocial project by Sonya Kim, PhD, CRC of NYU School of Medicine-Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and mentored by Hiltel S. Pantich, MD.

"Piloting a Handheld Platform to Investigate Changes in Quality of Life (QOL) Treatment satisfaction and Adherence Associated with Initiation of Oral DMTs" is a therapeutics project by Tanuja Chitnis, MD, Partners MS Center, Bingham and Women's Hospital. Mentored by Kenneth P. Johnson, MD.

A rehabilitation project on "Passive Continuous, In-Home Symptom and Gait Measure for Patients with MS – A Feasibility Study," by Pamela Newland, RN, PhD, CMSRN, Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barners Jewish College, is being mentored by Steven R. Schwid, MD.

"Through the generosity of our supporters, donors, and grants, we can continue to fund important research projects that will help clinicians, medical students, and scientists better understand this complex disease and improve patient diagnosis and care until a cure is found," said June Halper, CEO of the CMSC.

For more information on CMSC and its Annual Meeting, the most comprehensive multidisciplinary MS educational event in North America, visit www.mscare.org, and for more information on FCMSC visit http://www.cmscfoundation.org.

About the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers
The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) is the leading educational, training, and networking organization for MS health-care professionals and researchers. The CMSC's mission is to promote quality multiple sclerosis care through educational programming and accreditation including live and online events, research grants, technical journals and papers, and targeted advocacy efforts. The CMSC member network includes more than 7,000 international health-care clinicians and scientists committed to multiple sclerosis care as well as more than 60 Veterans Administration MS Programs and 225 MS Centers in the US, Canada, and Europe. The next CMSC Annual Meeting, the most comprehensive multidisciplinary MS educational event in North America, will take place May 27-30, 2015 in Indianapolis, IN.

CMSC's and IOMSN's official, peer-reviewed journal, the International Journal of MS Care (IJMSC), publishes high-quality research, reviews, and consensus papers on a broad range of clinical topics of interest to MS health-care professionals, and is mailed to its membership at no charge. All IJMSC content is available at http://ijmsc.org.

For more information on the CMSC, visit http://www.mscare.org.

About the Foundation of CMSC
The FCMSC was founded in 1999 with the mission to stimulate the growth, development and provision of patient care services, education and research in the field of MS and to enhance the quality of life of those affected by MS through supporting the activities of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers' (CMSC). For more information go to http://www.cmscfoundation.org