Lead recipient: Dr Lucas Calais-Ferreira, Director (Head), Twins Research Australia; Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Melbourne
Team members: Prof Trevor Kilpatrick, A/Prof Shuai Li, Prof Melissa Southey, Prof Anne-Louise Ponsonby, Prof Tomas Kalincik, Prof Peter Stys.
Funding: $40,000 in GERA’s Seed Funding Round 2 (2026)
About the project: This seed project investigates how epigenetic changes may help explain why Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) infection leads to multiple sclerosis (MS) in some people but not others. Using a cohort of adult twin pairs discordant for MS recruited through Twins Research Australia, the team will generate genome-wide DNA methylation and SNP genotyping data on around 25 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs whose EBV serology and B-cell function are already being profiled under a Florey–Hotchkiss Brain Institute collaboration grant. Within-pair analyses will assess associations between DNA methylation, EBV response and B-cell function, controlling for shared genetic and early-life environmental factors. Causal hypotheses will be tested using ICE FALCON, a family-based causal inference framework, and findings will be triangulated with the Ausimmune MS epigenetic case–control cohort. The study will provide preliminary data and a genomically characterised twin resource to underpin a future, larger MS-discordant twin cohort integrating multi-omic, immunological and clinical data, extending GERA’s analytical framework into neuroimmunology.
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