Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the myelin in the brain. Myelin is the protective layer around nerve cells that allows signals to travel efficiently through the brain. Maintaining healthy myelin requires large amounts of energy and antioxidants, processes that depend on the metal copper. When copper cannot reach the brain, myelin can become damaged, therefore it is an important factor to consider in MS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cause of MS is not known, but it is believed to involve genetic and environmental risk factors. Several environmental risk factors have been identified, including Epstein\u2013Barr virus infection, vitamin D deficiency, and an imbalance of gut bacteria. This research project will test the hypothesis that these three environmental factors have something in common \u2013 they interact with copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emerging evidence suggests that healthy gut bacteria are needed for copper absorption, vitamin D helps copper support antioxidant function, and disrupted copper may cause myelin to resemble Epstein\u2013Barr virus, triggering an immune attack. Using new imaging technology that can directly measure copper in the brain, this research will determine if copper is at the core of MS environmental risk factors, leading to new treatment and prevention strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research team would like to form a small group of people with lived experience of Multiple Sclerosis, including family members and caregivers, to provide input into the project. The group will discuss the aims, progress and results of the project, as well as advise on future research directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research team are looking for people with lived experience of Multiple Sclerosis, including family members and caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group will meet 1-2 times per year for approximately an hour over a 3\u20134-year time period<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meetings will be held in person at the Curtin Bentley campus or online<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An honorarium of $50\/hour is offered<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applications close 14 August 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The project Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the myelin in the brain. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":474,"featured_media":0,"parent":4050,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21519","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21519"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21527,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21519\/revisions\/21527"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Button block<\/h2>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n\n