The International Multiple Sclerosis Cognition Society (IMSCOGS) promotes research about cognition in MS.
It is a point of contact and information for all researchers and health professionals interested in MS cognition.
International Multiple Sclerosis Cognition Society
Steering Committee
Dr Menno Schoonheim
Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Steering committee chair
Dr. Schoonheim is an assistant professor in the department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at the Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc), in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is a neuroscientist, who received his PhD (Cum Laude) in 2014, based on his thesis entitled “Are you connected? A network perspective on cognitive dysfunction in early multiple sclerosis”. His research mainly focuses on understanding cognitive impairment and disease progression in MS by studying brain networks, brain atrophy and microstructural damage. Using a network point of view, his team has been able to show that brain atrophy centers around network hubs in MS, and that these hub areas become overloaded and more rigid in cognitively impaired people with MS. His team is currently studying the longitudinal trajectory of these network changes, in order to better understand the so-called "network collapse" that seems to underly cognitive decline and disease progression in MS.
Prof Maria Pia Amato
University of Florence, Italy
Professor Maria Pia Amato obtained her medical degree at the University of Florence (Italy) in 1983 and became a Board Certified Neurologist in 1987.
She received a specific training in clinical neuroepidemiology as a Research Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA) and at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam (The Netherlands).
She is Associate Professor of Neurology and responsible for the MS Unit at the Department of Neurology, University of Florence, co-chair of the MS Research Group of the Italian Neurological Society and Italian Delegate for MS at the European Federation of Neurological Societies.
She is actively involved in research on MS, at both the national and international level, having published more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her specific research focus deals with neuropsychology, clinical epidemiology and therapeutic trials in MS. Among the most relevant contributions in the field of MS-related cognitive disorders are long-term, longitudinal studies on the natural history of cognitive dysfunction, studies on cognitive functioning and relevant MRI correlates in the “benign” phenotype of MS and, more recently, the longitudinal study on cognitive and psychosocial issues in pediatric MS.
Dr. Laura Hancock
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Laura Hancock, PhD, is a staff neuropsychologist at The Cleveland Clinic (with academic appointment pending). She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Missouri - Kansas City and her postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She held a faculty appointment at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine prior to transitioning to The Cleveland Clinic. She has been involved in both clinical care and research with people who have multiple sclerosis for over 15 years. She has received grant support from the NIH and industry. She has conducted studies examining methods for rehabilitating cognitive skills in MS and is currently serving as co-coordinator of an ECTRIMS-IMSCOGS taskforce to establish consensus diagnostic criteria for cognitive disorders in MS. She enjoys partnering with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, and the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America to provide quality education and information on cognition and mental wellbeing for people with multiple sclerosis and their families/loved ones.
Prof. Hanneke Hulst
Leiden, The Netherlands
Hanneke Hulst is working as full Professor in Neuropsychology in Health and Disease, and is chair of the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit at Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is trained as a clinical neuroscientist (PhD), health scientist (MSc) and philosopher (MA) which puts her in an excellent position to bridge the gap between fundamental and applied research. She has an extensive track record in studying the underlying mechanisms of cognitive decline in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) by using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques. Furthermore, she explores the impact of innovative cognitive rehabilitation on cognitive performance of individuals with MS. Her work aims to enhance our understanding of the cognitive aspects of MS and improve the lives of those affected by the condition.
Prof Lauren Krupp
New York University, New York, USA
Dr. Lauren Krupp received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, completed her Neurology Residency at Albert Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center, and then completed additional fellowship training at Neuroimmunology/Multiple Sclerosis Branch of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr Krupp is Professor of Neurology and Psychology at Stony Brook University Medical Center and specializes in multiple sclerosis. She is the co-director of the adult MS Comprehensive Care Center at Stony Brook and is the founder and director of the National Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center at Stony Brook, having pioneered the first Center in the United States to treat children and adolescents with MS. She received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and interned at the New York College of Medicine in Westchester, NY. She was resident and chief resident of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center and then completed fellowship training at the Neuro-immunology/Multiple Sclerosis Branch of the National Institutes of Health. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, founding chair and member of the International Pediatric MS Study Group, and initial chair and current member of the National Network of Pediatric MS Centers of Excellence.
Her clinical research program addresses clinical challenges affecting adults as well as children with MS and focuses on better defining and treating fatigue, mood disturbance, and cognitive dysfunction in MS. She has published more than 100 original articles or chapters and is an internationally acknowledged authority on symptomatic management in multiple sclerosis.
Prof Dawn Langdon
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Previously secretary 2012-7
Professor of Neuropsychology and Director of Health and Medicine, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Dawn Langdon completed her training as a clinical psychologist at Oxford University and the Institute of Psychiatry, London. She worked as a clinical neuropsychologist at the National Hospital, Queen Square, London for sixteen years, obtaining a PhD on reasoning in organic brain syndromes and registration as both a neuropsychologist and a health psychologist.
She is now a Professor of Neuropsychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is neuropsychology lead on a number of multinational trials. Her research work centres on psychological aspects of MS and current projects include the efficacy of medication in protecting cognition, cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive profiles in CIS and early MS and cognition in the later stages of MS, including its relation to early disease status, and measuring and understanding motor planning. She is developing a protocol to optimise communication of drug information to people with MS (BRIMMS: Benefits and Risks of Medication in MS). She is co-chair of both the BICAMS initiative (www.BICAMS.net) and MS in the 21st Century.
She is a frequent contributor to international scientific meetings and committees and is a Trustee of the UK MS Trust, with whom she has authored the MS cognition website www.stayingsmart.org.uk.
Dr Sarah Morrow
Western University, London, ON
Dr. Morrow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at Western University (London, ON).
She received her MD from the University of Calgary and completed her residency training in neurology at Western University. This was followed by a clinical fellowship in MS at the London MS clinic at Western University and a research fellowship on Cognition and MS with at the Jacobs Neurologic Institute in Buffalo NY. Dr. Morrow has also completed a Master's of Science in Epidemiology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
In addition to her clinical work in the London MS clinic, she established the first MS Cognitive clinic in Canada located at Parkwood Institute. She currently has over 80 peer-reviewed publications in the area of MS. She is a Board member for the Consortium of MS Centers and on the editorial board of both the International Journal of MS care and the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.
She is on the steering committee of MS in the 21st Century, an international collaboration with the aim of defining how MS treatment and standard of care should look in the 21st century.
Prof Friedemann Paul
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Friedemann Paul is professor of clinical neuroimmunology at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. He is head of the neuroimmunology outpatient clinic at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint translational research facility run by Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine. He co-chairs Charité’s Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center. His main research areas are novel imaging techniques in autoimmune disorders of the CNS (optical coherence tomography, advanced MRI including ultrahigh field MRI), the visual system in neuroimmunological disorders and fatigue and cognition in MS and related conditions.
Aurélie Ruet
Bordeaux, France
Guy Nagels
Brussels, Belgium