2026 Winner
Professor Sandra Vukusic
Professor of Neurology at the University of Lyon, Hospices Civils de Lyon, and Scientific Coordinator of OFSEP, the French national MS registry.
Professor Sandra Vukusic is the winner of the 2026 Rachel Horne Prize for her groundbreaking scientific contribution to our understanding of women's health, pregnancy and sex-based treatment differences in MS.
Her clinical studies over the past two decades have played a key role in overturning the long-held belief that pregnancy worsens short- and long-term MS course. In addition, she has been instrumental in establishing clinical approaches for managing MS therapies around pregnancy, as well as investigating how assisted reproduction interacts with MS evolution.
In recent years, Professor Vukusic's research has identified sex-based disparities in MS treatment. She and her team found that women with MS of childbearing age were significantly less likely than men to be prescribed high-efficacy MS drug therapies, due to sometimes unfounded concerns about future pregnancies. This 'therapeutic inertia' could lead to greater long-term disability risk in women.
"Professor Vukusic's outstanding research has helped transform pregnancy in MS from an area characterised by uncertainty and treatment discontinuation, to individualised reproductive and treatment planning based on disease activity, treatment characteristics and the available evidence."
Professor Emmanuelle Waubant, President of Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS).
"When I started my career, women living with MS were still being told not to have children. Over the past twenty-five years, there has been an explosion of scientific knowledge and the introduction of a wide range of treatments, which now allow us to plan pregnancy more confidently, assess risks more precisely, and manage MS treatments before, during and after pregnancy using an increasingly evidence-based approach."
Professor Sandra Vukusic.
"Throughout her career, Professor Vukusic has deepened our understanding of MS and, importantly, of how the disease affects women. Her research combines scientific excellence with a strong commitment to improving the lives and care of women living with MS."
Rachel Horne, founder of the prize.