Recognizing Excellence in Multiple Sclerosis Research, the Dystel Prize: Bruce Bebo, PhD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"Prizes like the Dystel Prize help elevate and recognize excellence in MS research and create excitement and interest, promoting MS as a specialty that deserves to be studied and investigated."

Rhonda Voskuhl, MD, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), received the 2024 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research. Voskuhl delivered the Dystel Prize lecture and received the award presented at the 2024 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, held April 13-18, in Denver, Colorado.¹ The award recognized Voskuhl, also a professor of neurology at UCLA, in her research to understand the mechanisms underlying sex differences in MS and advance women’s health.

Voskuhl has performed extensive research to understand why women are more susceptible to develop MS than men. In her research, she made discoveries related to the influence of sex hormones and sex chromosomes in laboratory models, and then translated those results to the clinic. She conducted 4 clinical trials that assessed the effect of treatment of patients with MS with sex hormones. Voskuhl’s research reported a gene on women sex chromosomes that promoted inflammation. In addition, she investigated the brain-protective effects of the sex hormone estrogen and other estrogen receptor molecules that bind to estrogen docking sites.

Bruce Bebo, PhD, executive vice president of research at National MS Society and who presented the prize to Voskuhl, sat down with NeurologyLive^® at the meeting to talk more about the Dystel Prize and how it plays a role in advancing MS research. He also spoke about how the nomination process for the Dystel Prize works if clinicians were interested in nominating their colleagues. Additionally, Bebo discussed the reason why it is important to recognize and honor outstanding research in MS.

Click here for more coverage of AAN 2024.

REFERENCES
1. Noted UCLA Neurologist Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl Wins 2024 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research. News Release. National MS Society. Published April 2, 2024. Accessed April 15, 2024. https://www.nationalmssociety.org/About-the-Society/News/Noted-UCLA-Neurologist-Dr-Rhonda-Voskuhl-Wins-2024