An International €300,000 Grant for an Innovative Multiple Sclerosis Research Project
"In vivo Histology in MS", the research project led by Professor Emilie Lommers, neurologist at the University Hospital of Liège (CHU de Liège) and researcher at GIGA Neuroscience (University of Liège), has just been awarded more than €300,000 through the prestigious WEAVE program of the F.R.S.–FNRS. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and the Neuropathology Laboratory of the Medical University of Vienna, for a total combined budget of €900,000 across the three institutions.
Together, Emilie Lommers, Evgeniya Kirilina (physicist at the Max Planck Institute), and Simon Hametner (neuropathologist at the Medical University of Vienna) will combine clinical expertise with fundamental research to visualize, in living patients, pathological processes that until now could only be studied post mortem.The analysis of tissue repair mechanisms, particularly remyelination, is central to this project.
Multiple sclerosis still lacks sensitive biomarkers capable of capturing the full diversity of its pathological mechanisms. While current treatments effectively control acute inflammatory relapses, they remain limited in addressing the slow and silent progression of disability, driven by persistent chronic inflammation and incomplete myelin repair. Over recent decades, studies of diseased tissue have revealed numerous pathological mechanisms, yet standard MRI techniques continue to struggle to detect them. Developing imaging approaches capable of capturing these otherwise invisible processes is therefore essential to improving diagnosis, monitoring, and therapeutic decision-making for patients.
The project is structured around three key steps
1. Identifying the cellular signatures of the disease
The team will analyze high-resolution post-mortem quantitative MRI data (including images acquired using the 7 Tesla MRI system at the GIGA in vivo Imaging platform) and compare them with the histological features of MS brain tissue.
Goal: understand how chronic inflammation, demyelination, and remyelination translate into measurable MRI signals.
2. Developing a generative biophysical model
Using these combined datasets, researchers will build a model capable of estimating cellular alterations directly from MRI images. The model will be validated on post-mortem tissue to ensure robustness.
3. Translating new biomarkers into clinical monitoring
Biomarkers derived from the model will be applied in vivo in a cohort of patients with MS, in order to assess their real-world value for early diagnosis, prediction of disease evolution, and individualized treatment strategies.
The project directly benefits from the interdisciplinary environment of GIGA Neuroscience, which brings together physicists, MRI engineers, neurobiologists, and clinicians around advanced brain imaging technologies.
This synergy is further strengthened by Professor Lommers’ dual role as both a CHU neurologist and a researcher at the Clinical Neurology Laboratory, enabling seamless interaction between laboratory work, experimental modeling, and clinical observation. Her research stay at the Medical University of Vienna in early 2025 additionally reinforced key international collaborations, essential for gaining advanced expertise in multiple sclerosis neuropathology.
By combining biophysical modeling with advanced imaging, this project fully embodies GIGA’s mission: bridging fundamental mechanisms with clinical applications to improve the understanding and monitoring of neurological diseases. It paves the way for more sensitive brain imaging capable of revealing, in living patients, information previously accessible only through post-mortem studies.
