Dr. Jack Antel

Fighting MS and immune diseases

Neurologist Jack Antel, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, microbiology and immunology at McGill University, investigates how the immune system and central nervous system interact to degenerate brain tissue in people with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Antel coordinates the MS program at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and was recently named scientific director of the new endMS initiative of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. His main goal is to curb the illness.

“Multiple sclerosis is the most common central nervous system disease occurring in young adults in Canada,” he says. “Tens of thousands live with this unpredictable and often disabling disease. MS strikes all ages and is three times more likely to affect women.”

Dr. Antel was among the first scientists to demonstrate and analyze the role of immune T cells in people with MS. He promoted the use of brain biopsy samples from surgical patients who did not have MS to pinpoint how nerve cells might be involved in MS degeneration.

Many of his studies have been international in scope. He participates in a collaborative, multi-million dollar, multi-centre research group funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation and the National MS Society. The scientific team investigates ways to accelerate medical research into myelin repair treatments that will dramatically improve the lives of people suffering from MS.

“The toll of MS is profound when we consider the impact on families, health care systems and communities,” says Dr. Antel. “The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada funds the best MS researchers so that they can work together to quell this degenerative disease and end MS.”

Dr. Antel has published more than 240 articles in scientific journals and serves on the editorial board of several publications, including the Journal of Neuroimmunology, Journal of Neuroscience Research and Multiple Sclerosis. For his work in neuro-immunology and for his contribution to the care of MS patients, Dr. Antel received the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research from the National MS Society and the American Academy of Neurology in 2005.

For further information, please contact Dr. Jack Antel by phone at 514 398-8531