Tanuja Chitnis

Tanuja Chitnis
TChitnis-2019.png TChitnis-2019.png
Born	United Kingdom
🏫 Education	M.D. degree, University of Toronto
💼 Occupation
👔 Employer	Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School
Known for	Research on multiple sclerosis
🌐 Website	https://www.tanujachitnis-tnrc.org

Dr. Chitnis. is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, and the inaugural Chief of the Division of Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology at Mass General Brigham, specializing in multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunological research. She serves as the incumbent Cindy Larsen Chugg Endowed Chair in Neurology. She has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles in the MS field and has received funding from the Department of Defense, NIH, National MS Society, industry sponsors and additional foundations.

Medical Research

To meet the need to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for MS and related diseases, she created the Translational Neuroimmunology Research Center (TNRC) at the Ann Romney Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital which encompasses a neuroimmunology laboratory group, clinical research and database team and bioinformatics-analytics group, with the goal of identifying new biomarkers, algorithms, and therapeutic targets with the goal of bench to bedside translation for neuroimmunological diseases.

Her primary research focus is in studying the mechanisms and disease course of MS and related diseases including clinical and immunological features and biomarkers. Dr. Chitnis led work to identify the underlying mechanisms of MS relapses caused by reactivation of Epstein Barr virus and interaction with MS risk genes which is published in Nature Medicine in 2026. She has also conducted pioneering work in biomarkers and precision medicine for multiple sclerosis sponsored in part by the Department of Defense, which has led to several biomarkers for MS now in clinical use, and is summarized in a landmark review article published in Lancet Neurology in 2025. She has chaired the ACTRIMS meetings 2019-2020 on the theme of precision medicine in MS, summarized in Multiple Sclerosis Journal special edition

Career

Dr. Chitnis serves as the Director of the CLIMB Natural History study at the Brigham MS Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) which follows over 2000 MS patients longitudinally which is an important data source for precision medicine studies. The CLIMB study has been the source of over 250 publications.

In addition, in her role as the Director of the Mass General Brigham Pediatric MS Center at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGH), and the Chair of the International Pediatric MS Study group (2010-2018) she has led several clinical trials in pediatric MS, including the first FDA approved treatment for this disease published in the New England Journal of Medicine. She is currently working on clinical trials for progressive forms of MS.

Clinically, as a Senior Neurologist she specializes in MS practicing at the Brigham MS Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as the Director of the Mass General Brigham Pediatric MS Center, Massachusetts General Hospital.

She was awarded the “Milestones in MS Research Award” in 2018 by the National MS Society and the Martin Prize by the Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee on Research in 2019. She is a Clarivate highly cited scholar and received the Castle Connolly Top Doctor Recognition.  

Recent Publications in Press

• King D, Saxena S, Caefer D, Downer, KC, Saucier LE, Goodman E, Aracena J, Zhirova A, Alchanat A, Nolan S, Lokhande H, Weiner H, Gewurz BE, Chitnis T. EBV reactivation priming of the peripheral immune system in multiple sclerosis relapse. Nature Medicine 2026, In Press.
• Chitnis T, Arnold DL, Banwell B, Brück W, Ghezzi A, Giovannoni G, Greenberg B, Krupp L, Rostásy K, Tardieu M, Waubant E, Wolinsky JS, Bar-Or A, Stites T, Chen Y, Putzki N, Merschhemke M, Gärtner J; PARADIGMS Study Group. Trial of Fingolimod versus Interferon Beta-1a in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2018 Sep 13;379(11):1017-1027. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1800149. PMID: 30207920
• Chitnis T, Banwell B, Kappos L, Arnold DL, Gücüyener K, Deiva K, Skripchenko N, Cui LY, Saubadu S, Hu W, Benamor M, Le-Halpere A, Truffinet P, Tardieu M; TERIKIDS Investigators. Safety and efficacy of teriflunomide in paediatric multiple sclerosis (TERIKIDS): a multicentre, double-blind, phase 3, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 2021 Dec;20(12):1001-1011. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00364-1. PMID: 34800398
• Chitnis T, Magliozzi R, Abdelhak A, Kuhle J, Leppert D, Bielekova B. Blood and CSF biomarkers for multiple sclerosis: emerging clinical applications. Lancet Neurol. 2025 Sep 24:S1474-4422(25)00249-2. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(25)00249-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41015047.
• Chitnis T, Qureshi F, Gehman VM, Becich M, Bove R, Cree BAC, Gomez R, Hauser SL, Henry RG, Katrib A, Lokhande H, Paul A, Caillier SJ, Santaniello A, Sattarnezhad N, Saxena S, Weiner H, Yano H, Baranzini SE. Inflammatory and neurodegenerative serum protein biomarkers increase sensitivity to detect disease activity in multiple sclerosis. Nature Communications. 2024 May 20:2023.06.28.23291157. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48602-9 PMID: 37461671; PMCID: PMC10350151.

References

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