The Menzies Research Institute and the Royal Hobart Hospital today welcomed renowned Multiple Sclerosis (MS) researcher and neurologist, Associate Professor Bruce Taylor, back to Tasmania.

The Menzies Research Institute and the Royal Hobart Hospital today welcomed renowned Multiple Sclerosis (MS) researcher and neurologist, Associate Professor Bruce Taylor, back to Tasmania.

Associate Professor Taylor has taken up a position as Principal Research Fellow at the Menzies and will provide a significant boost for the Institute's world-renowned research into the debilitating disease, MS. Under the conjoint appointment, he will also provide clinical services in the busy Hospital neurology department.

Associate Professor Taylor says he plans to concentrate his research on the development of several new studies of MS epidemiology, focusing on persons who have had their first ever MS attack, to assess their likelihood of developing definite MS.

"I am also interested in how MS affects people from different ethnic and environmental backgrounds. It's exciting to have the opportunity to explore the nature of MS in Vietnam through Menzies' current work in the region.

"Menzies has established some excellent partnerships with other MS research groups both nationally and internationally, and I look forward to renewing my relationships with those collaborators around the world."

Associate Professor Taylor is well known to Hobart residents, having previously worked as consultant neurologist at the RHH for eight years before moving to New Zealand in 2004.

RHH Chief Executive Officer, Dr Craig White, said the Hospital was delighted to once again have the services of Associate Professor Taylor. 

"Bruce has a great reputation and is held in very high esteem by his colleagues here," Dr White said.

Menzies' Director Professor Simon Foote says that the Board and staff at Menzies are grateful for significant support from the MS Society of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government in encouraging Associate Professor Taylor to return to Hobart.

"If not for the financial and research support of the MS Society of Tasmania and the Department of Health and Human Services, I doubt we would have been able to convince Bruce to return to Hobart.

"A considerable investment of effort and resources from both the DHHS and MS Society has resulted in this excellent outcome. There is no doubt that the people of Tasmania will benefit considerably from the new research activity and enhanced clinical care that this appointment will bring," Professor Foote said.

New MS research sheds light on vitamin D

Menzies research published recently in the Journal of Neurology found that there was a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency amongst a population-based sample of people with MS in Tasmania.

MS researcher Dr Ingrid van der Mei says that most of the vitamin D that we need is produced by our body when we spend time in the sun.

"Inadequate sun exposure and dietary vitamin D intake can result in vitamin D insufficiency. Adequate levels of vitamin D are essential to bone health, and vitamin D insufficiency has also been linked to diseases such as cancer, MS and diabetes.

"Among people with MS in this study, increasing disability was strongly associated with lower levels of vitamin D and with reduced sun exposure.

The strong links between disability, sun exposure and vitamin D status show that reduced exposure to the sun, due to a patient's higher level of disability, may contribute to vitamin D insufficiency in people with MS.

Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that monitoring of vitamin D status among people with MS should be considered as part of the clinical management of the disease.

More than 16,000 Australians have MS, which is the most common chronic central nervous system disease among young Australian adults. The disease affects the central nervous system and interferes with nerve impulses in the brain, the spinal cord and optic nerves. The cause and cure for MS is still unknown.

Contact:

Phone:

Email: