Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a terrible wasting disease of the central nervous system. It can affect vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility. Although the disease in itself is not fatal, two-thirds of MS patient deaths are directly related to the disease and MS patient life expectancy is 5 to 10 years lower than that of unaffected people. Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world.

Though there is no cure, the number and effectiveness of treatments for MS symptoms is growing. In the front ranks of those involved in the international fight is Dr. V.W. Yong, a Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary. The celebrated author of numerous research articles in the field, Dr. Yong knows a promising idea when he sees one.

He was, therefore, the perfect mentor for Yasamin Mahjoub, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Calgary’s Sir Winston Churchill High School. “I have a passion for science, and specifically biology,” she says. “I wanted to go beyond the curriculum, and the sanofi-aventis BioTalent Challenge was the perfect opportunity for me.”

Yasamin’s project was based on the observation that pregnant MS patients generally seem healthier and suffer fewer relapses than before pregnancy. She and Dr. Yong postulated that hormones produced during pregnancy might be “protecting” neurons from the effects of iron accumulation in the brain, a characteristic of MS.

Yasamin’s background research began last summer and since November she’s devoted 10 hours a week to lab testing cell cultures to see if the deaths of neurons by iron could be reduced by the hormones. Essentially, she divided cell cultures into batches treated with estrogen, progesterone or prolactin, and left one untreated. Then she exposed the groups of cells to iron and counted the number of cells that died. The results clearly showed significantly fewer cells in the hormones-treated cultures were killed by iron.

Dr Yong says the positive test results offer important new, testable hypotheses into the causes of MS, and suggest new methods to alleviate the disease’s consequences. “The results have pushed the frontiers of science,” he says.

While many more preliminary steps are needed before clinical trials can be contemplated, Yasamin’s project has already had one important effect: she plans to pursue further research into the way that hormones affect iron neurotoxicity. She is also planning to continue health sciences as a career. “My SABC experience was rewarding,” she says. “It helped me realize that this really is what I want to do with my life.”