New study will survey women with MS and their providers to develop practical resources for navigating menopause
Waltham, MA, March 25, 2026 — Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (ACP) and UVA Health have received a grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) to study the experiences of women with MS navigating menopause and develop resources to improve their care. The project is one of 11 research studies funded through the NMSS’s Advancing Women’s Health initiative, which is investing $2.3 million to close long-standing knowledge gaps in MS and women’s health.
MS affects women two to three times more often than men. Despite this, women’s health issues — including how menopause intersects with MS symptoms and disease course — remain among the least researched areas in the field. The NMSS’s 2025 funding initiative drew on global surveys of more than 5,000 women living with MS to identify the priority areas these new studies should address.
The study has roots in the iConquerMS community, ACP’s people-powered research network. Working with ACP and the Women’s Health Research Committee, iConquerMS member Dawn Morgan, a woman living with MS, helped conduct a scoping review, recently published in Maturitas, that revealed a striking gap: of 19 studies examined, none had explored how women actually experience the menopausal transition or navigate care.
“This study began with a question I raised as a patient advocate and iConquerMS member and it became a research priority because the gap was undeniable,” said Morgan. “For too long, women with MS have navigated menopause without evidence-based guidance or clinical support. Seeing patient-powered advocacy translate into funded science is exactly why this work matters.”
ACP serves as the operational and community engagement lead on the project, drawing on its iConquerMS patient-powered research network to recruit participants and its expertise in inclusive research design to guide the work. ACP will co-lead survey development with UVA Health, with direct input from the iConquerMS Women’s Health Research Committee, and will manage participant recruitment, qualitative interviews, and data collection. ACP and UVA Health will collaborate on analysis and jointly develop educational tools for patients and guidance materials for providers.
“Menopause is a significant life transition for any woman. For women with MS, the picture is even more complex, yet it’s been largely invisible in the research. This study lets us do what ACP does best: put the community at the center. By building the survey instruments with our Women’s Health Research Committee and recruiting through iConquerMS, we can make sure the questions we’re asking actually reflect what women are living with.”
— Stephanie Buxhoeveden, Chief Scientific Officer, Accelerated Cure Project for MS
Led by Alexandra Simpson, MD, MA, at UVA Health , the study—titled “The Menopausal Transition, MS Symptom Management, and Multidisciplinary Care Gaps” —will survey and interview women with MS in menopause and their healthcare providers to surface unmet needs and care gaps, with the goal of producing practical resources that improve quality of life for women with MS.
“We have limited data to guide women with MS through the menopausal transition, even though many experience meaningful changes in symptoms and quality of life. Bringing together the perspectives of women with MS and healthcare providers is critical to understanding where opportunities exist to improve support and care during this stage.”
— Alexandra Simpson, MD, MA, Assistant Professor of Neurology, UVA Health
The NMSS described the funded projects as early-stage investments with the potential to launch larger clinical studies and improve how MS is understood, treated, and managed for millions of women, according to James Quinn, PhD, Director of Biomedical Research at the National MS Society.
Women with MS who are interested in participating in this study or learning more are encouraged to contact Stephanie Buxhoeveden at sbuxhoeveden@acceleratedcure.org. Not yet an iConquerMS member? Join at iconquerms.org to connect with a community driving MS research forward.
About Accelerated Cure Project for MS
Accelerated Cure Project for MS (ACP) is a patient-founded nonprofit on a mission to accelerate a cure for multiple sclerosis by enabling people-centered research. ACP unites people affected by MS, researchers, clinicians, funders, and partners to build and share essential resources for discovery, including the ACP Repository of biosamples and data, the iConquerMS people-powered research network, and initiatives focused on inclusive research engagement.
Media Contact:
Cristal Balis
Director of Marketing & Communications
Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis
cbalis@acceleratedcure.org