"With the availability of new antibody tests for neuroinflammatory diseases, we can give more precise diagnoses and do more refined research to develop better treatments," -Dr. Giulia Fadda
Neurologist Dr. Giulia Fadda wants to know what causes widespread brain damage in neuroinflammatory conditions like progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients with this kind of MS relentlessly get worse over time. Current treatments have minimal effect on slowing down symptom progression, and the development of new treatments is very limited since the underlying cause is unknown. 

Dr. Fadda hopes to identify the mechanisms behind the progressive brain damage in this form of MS through a combination of brain imaging and testing the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. She hopes these tests will reveal disease markers that can identify patients at greater risk of disease progression, monitor disease evolution and response to treatment, and reveal potential targets for new therapies. 

Dr. Fadda will conduct similar investigations for MOG-antibody associated disease (MOGAD), a rare, newly recognized neuroinflammatory condition that is more common in children. She wants to understand why MOGAD symptoms vary so widely, predict how the disease will progress, and identify the best treatments. She’s also part of international initiatives aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

"With the availability of new antibody tests for neuroinflammatory diseases, we can give more precise diagnoses and do more refined research to develop better treatments," she says. 

Dr. Giulia Fadda was recently appointed as an associate scientist in the Neuroscience Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is a neurologist at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.