Brexit visa barriers are hampering Edinburgh's cutting-edge MS research

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EDINBURGH — Scotland suffers from blistering rates of multiple sclerosis, and Edinburgh says the difficulty in getting visas post-Brexit is stifling cutting-edge scientific research.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh are at the forefront of MS research with tiny fish that can regenerate their nervous system. But with the U.K. no longer in the EU, barriers to working with the best and brightest experts are causing bottlenecks for breakthroughs.

“Ten years ago, we could have a killer scientist doing amazing work in Germany who wants to come to Edinburgh to work on an MS project,” said David Lyons, a neurobiology professor at the university. “Now, this is extremely difficult; it’s extremely costly.”

Lyons is studying zebrafish, a small tropical swimmer that seems to be able to fix the same type of nerve damage caused by MS. The autoimmune disease has no cure, and the stakes for finding one are particularly high in Scotland, where its prevalence is 10 times greater than the global rate.

“University research is just one area where the U.K. government’s one-size-fits-all approach to immigration fails Scotland and much of the U.K.,” Scottish Innovation and Tertiary Education Minister Ben Macpherson told POLITICO.

Since Brexit took effect in January 2020, European scientists can no longer move to the U.K. without a visa; and for high-skilled jobs like theirs, employers need to sponsor them.

Professor Anna Williams and her team at the University of Edinburgh are researching how to treat nerve damage in MS patients. | Dominic Giannini/POLITICO

Differences over post-Brexit immigration policy have been a long-standing touchpoint for Edinburgh and London. And Macpherson has called for a tailored immigration program for Scotland, including in a February letter posted to Kirsty McNeill, then-parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland .

“Unfortunately, prime minister after prime minister, home secretary after home secretary, have not delivered any flex,” Macpherson said.

Director of Universities Scotland Claire McPherson also took a swipe at the government, saying Scotland had attracted fewer researchers from the EU over the past decade, and the U.K. was at risk of becoming out of reach. “This is concerning for the future pipeline of talent and research,” she said, warning experts would flow elsewhere.

Emphasizing that the U.K wanted to continue to be a global hub for groundbreaking science and pointing to the £5 billion to be spent on boosting research talent and changes to high-skilled visa routes , a U.K. government spokesperson told POLITICO:“We will not be introducing a Scottish-based visa scheme, or devolving control of immigration policy.”

Fishing for the cure

Evie Orr was diagnosed with MS in 2009 at the age of 16 and now uses mobility aids to get around. The chronic neurological disorder can result in permanent disability as the body’s immune system attacks the protective nerve coverings known as myelin.

Evie Orr, who has MS, has seen the progression of treatments for the disease over the past 17 years. | Dominic Giannini/POLITICO

Orr can attest to the rapid improvement in treatments over the last two decades. To suppress the frequency of her flareups, she once had to inject herself with a drug that “makes you feel awful” three times a week. She now gets biannual infusions in a hospital, which have improved this.

But there is no permanent fix for MS — and this is where Lyons’ world-class research comes in.

The neurobiology professor is using zebrafish to understand how myelin is lost and what drugs can be used to prevent this.

On the face of it, there doesn’t appear to be much similarity between a 2-inch fish and the human brain. But these small fish can repair damaged myelin, and the similarity of their genes to humans allows researchers to both observe how the nerve cells work and react to different stimuli, and alter the genes to test the efficacy of different drugs on different mutations.

Zebrafish are also quick to breed and grow and their transparency makes them easier to study. An on-campus aquarium holds thousands of the striking silver-and-blue striped animals.

Imaging can help determine how fast messages are sent between the brain and spinal cord, how myelin damage affects this and what helps speed them back up, explained Lyons.

A zebrafish aquarium at the University of Edinburgh, where researchers are studying the small, translucent fish in an effort to protect nerves from neurological diseases. | Dominic Giannini/POLITICO

The experiments have proved successful in other fields too — the “poster-boy win” so far has been treatment for childhood epilepsy, he said. “We’re really hitting a crest now.”

‘Disaster for science’

About 2.9 million people globally live with MS today, roughly one out of every 3,000. That includes more than 17,000 people in Scotland, with one study even putting the disease’s prevalence in the Orkney Islands to the country’s north as the highest in the world at more than 400 cases per 100,000 people.

Collaboration with EU countries is important given that northern Europe has particularly high rates of MS as well. Denmark and Germany, for example, also have 10 times more cases than the global average .

But Brexit has been “a disaster for science,” said Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He slammed the U.K.’s restrictions on mobility, including high visa costs, hefty surcharges for health coverage and limitations on researchers bringing family along.

Speaking to POLITICO, the U.K. government spokesperson disputed the notion of profiting from visas, saying “all income from visa fees is used to build a migration system that reduces reliance on taxpayer funding.”

But how researchers work together has also been complicated by the political divorce, noted McKee, as U.K. organizations and universities can partner with Europe’s Horizon program but cannot lead initiatives or influence priorities.

A vial holds a rodent brain in Williams’ lab as her team studies how to slow down MS and repair damaged nerve cells. | Dominic Giannini/POLITICO

For Lyons, the situation is especially frustrating because neuroscience research “has never been stronger.” Yet, the growing obstacles are frustrating efforts to “make the final push toward some finish lines.”

The glimmers of hope

Despite Brexit, Scotland continues to be an epicenter of MS research.

David Hunt, a neuroinflammation medicine professor working on prevention at the University of Edinburgh, is testing a vaccine to suppress the Epstein-Barr virus — a variant on the common herpes virus that’s thought to be linked to MS — through a global trial backed by U.S. pharma company Moderna.

The hope now is to move from suppressing the virus to vaccinating against it completely, similar to how vaccinations against the human papillomavirus curbed rates of cervical cancer .

Also working out of the University of Edinburgh, Anna Williams’ cutting-edge research on regenerative neurology considers how to prevent permanent nerve damage by rescuing them early — an area where there’s a dearth of medications compared to those for treating symptoms. The first results are expected as early as September.

Orr, the MS patient, is optimistic it will get easier for people with the disease.

“I hope a 16-year-old being diagnosed today will not be using mobility aids when she’s 33,” she said, in reference to her experience.

But as patients watch the science, scientists are watching the politicians.

Andy Burnham, the newly minted U.K. prime minister, promised a “reset” on EU relations, including an ambition to make it easier for young people aged 18 to 30 to move and work across the Channel. And while such a move could somewhat extend the scientist talent pool, it would still be unlikely catch all if the best and brightest.

Another sign that the U.K. may ease access to Europe’s talent might come next month, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband set to attend an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in September .