UConn Health MS & Neuroimmunology Center

Dear MS community, welcome to @UConnMSNews site, that aims to disseminate evidence based scientific advances, improve the goals of awareness, early diagnosis and treatment for people with #MS @UConn @uconnhealth @mssociety @mscare @Brandon_Beaber Our goal #PreventStopRestoreMS

Happy to share with you our recent @MAGNIMS article on the Value of Optic Nerve MRI in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Management | Neurology neurology.org/doi/full/10.12…

It's a new day in Waterbury. Still reliving the joy of last week, when Waterbury Hospital (@waterburyhosp) officially joined the UConn Health Community Network. Great things are ahead!

You’ve heard of microglia. But have you heard of dark microglia? 🚨 Microglia are the CNS-resident innate immune cells, maintaining homeostasis via continuous surveillance, phagocytic clearance, and synaptic remodelling. They don’t just switch “on/off”; they shift functional programmes based on local cues (injury, infection, protein aggregates, altered circuit activity). And one stress-linked programme keeps showing up when synapses are at risk: dark microglia. So what are dark microglia? 1. A microglial state defined by a dark, condensed appearance on electron microscopy (their signature feature). 2. They show cellular stress and make unusually close/excess contact with synapses. 3. They’re repeatedly observed across species in pathological contexts, especially Alzheimer’s disease, and appear variably in inflammatory paradigms. 4. They tend to cluster near amyloid plaques → suggests a disease-linked emergence. 5. They also appear in early development, when synaptic pruning is naturally high. Clincial relevance: - If synapse loss is a convergent pathway to cognitive decline, then the key clinical question becomes: which microglial programmes are driving synaptic pruning, in whom, and when? - Dark microglia may be one candidate state, perhaps as a biological staging signal for synaptic vulnerability. (speculative) *diagram modified from reference article: Flury et al, Evolving insights into the identity and function of dark microglia. Trends Neurosci. 2026 Jan;49(1):20-34.

🧑‍🍳30-year-old previously healthy woman with 4 days of high fever, severe headache, vomiting, new-onset generalized seizure, and altered mental status. No trauma, no prior neurosurgery, no immunosuppression. CSF is markedly inflammatory. 🤩Based on the MRI, what do you see?

A historic moment for the MOGAD community! Positive Phase III results from the METEOROID clinical trial mark the first successful MOGAD treatment study—made possible by the participants and their families. As the pre-eminent global nonprofit for #MOGAD, The MOG Project calls this a “historic day” and applauds “Hoffmann-LaRoche/Genentech’s landmark achievement and their investment in finding new, safe, and effective treatments for MOGAD.” Learn more: mogproject.org/meteoroid

Opicinumab, a human monoclonal antibody against LINGO-1, did not show significant improvements in disability (ODRS) in relapsing #MultipleSclerosis (vs placebo). A randomized, controlled, phase 2 trial from @Calabre04804429 @hopkinsneurons @biogen ▶️ journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…

1. A New Chapter for Waterbury Health today.uconn.edu/2025/11/uconn-…

2. UConn Graduates the Next Generation of the Health Care Workforce today.uconn.edu/2025/05/uconn-…

When someone living with MS hears the words “You’re not alone.” — hope grows. Enter the new year showing up for the MS community, because hope start with you, and MS ends with you. Give now: ntlms.org/eoyxdonate

🔊 Listen to @MSBase_Registry @UniMelb on the management of reactivation of #MultipleSclerosis during treatment with natalizumab. 📄And read the full manuscript ▶️ journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

3D-DIR MRI sequences of the MRI (images c/d) are better than FLAIR (images a/b) at visualizing multiple sclerosis plaques near the cortex (arrows) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41464105/

It appears the FDA decision for tolebrutinib in non-relapsing SP-MS will be further delayed beyond the end of this month sanofi.com/en/media-room/…

New press release from Sanofi - tolebrutinib did NOT meet it's primary endpoint in PP-MS trial sanofi.com/en/media-room/…

A UConn Health team of experts will be leading the work under a new grant received by the @NIHAging to establish Geroscience Education and Training 2 (GET2) Network. today.uconn.edu/2025/12/uconn-…

IN THE NEWS | "A CT hospital is researching genes people might not know they have. Here’s why and the goal." ft. UConn Health's Dr. Biree Andemariam, Dr. Marja Hurley, and Dr. Genice Nelson (via @hartfordcourant) courant.com/2025/11/27/a-c…

p-tau217, the breakthrough blood test, prediction of amyloid-β burden and Alzheimer's disease in people with no symptoms, no cognitive impairment jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

🚨 Do you know anyone who is experiencing the early signs of MS? 🚨 Tell them about the AttackMS trial. The trial, set up by Barts Health, aims to diagnose someone with MS and get them on a high efficacy treatment within 14 days from the onset of symptoms.

2 classic quotes on Medical Education: by Dr. William Osler (often described as the Father of Modern Medicine): “Medicine is learned by the bedside, and not in the classroom.” “He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all". 🚩Build your knowledge by reading. But it is through the care of our patients that the learning becomes transformative. 🖼️ - Sir William Osler. Oil painting by Harry Herman Salomon #MedEd #MedTwitter

Engineered T cells that have been used to treat ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus show promising results go.nature.com/3M5UZ9Z

Spinal cord anatomy and clinical examination made easy 🧠