Marianna Cortese

Biography

Dr. Marianna Cortese earned her medical degree from the University of Heidelberg in Germany in 2013 and completed her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at the University of Bergen in Norway in 2017, where she focused on risk factors and early signs of multiple sclerosis (MS). She joined the Neuroepidemiology Research Group at the Department of Nutrition in 2018, where she currently serves as a Senior Research Scientist.

Dr. Cortese’s research focuses on identifying risk factors and biomarkers for the onset and progression of neurologic and immune-mediated diseases for which there is currently no cure, including MS, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and type 1 diabetes. She utilizes data from unique prospective cohorts—such as the Nurses’ Health Studies, the U.S. military cohort, the Finnish Maternity Cohort, the BENEFIT trial follow-up, the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, and the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort—to address key knowledge gaps and promote brain health across the life course.

She has made critical contributions to our understanding of MS, including pioneering prospective studies on the prodromal phase of the disease. These investigations helped redefine the "true" onset of MS, shifting both clinical and research focus toward earlier detection and intervention. Furthermore, her landmark study published in Science in 2022 provided the most compelling evidence to date that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the leading cause of MS. Recognized by Science magazine as one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs of the year, this work has garnered international attention and catalyzed major investment into EBV-related MS research, including the development of vaccines and antiviral therapies. Dr. Cortese is a key collaborator on one of two large Horizon Europe projects recently funded to advance this work.

Her current research aims to generate critical evidence for MS and other neurologic and immune-mediated conditions. She is leading work to identify a metabolomic signature of MS severity in blood samples collected during the earliest disease stages. In addition, she is developing two large projects focused on: (1) novel biomarkers and risk factors for MS progression and symptomatology; and (2) the role of EBV strain variation in MS onset and progression. She is also investigating the prediagnostic viral immune response and emergence of autoantibodies in adult-onset type 1 diabetes, and is exploring early biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease using sebum analysis.

Education and Training

• M.D., Medicine
  University of Heidelberg
• Ph.D., Epidemiology
  University of Bergen

Publications

• Migraine in the multiple sclerosis prodrome: a prospective nationwide cohort study in pregnant women.

  Eid K, Torkildsen Ø, Aarseth J, Cortese M, Holmøy T, Myhr KM, Riise T, Wergeland S, Gilhus NE, Bjørk MH. J Headache Pain 2024 Dec 23

  PMID: 39710642

• Identifying Individuals in the Prodromal Phase of Parkinson's Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.

  Flores-Torres MH, Hughes KC, Cortese M, Hung AY, Healy BC, Schwarzschild MA, Bjornevik K, Ascherio A. Ann Neurol 2024 Dec 19

  PMID: 39702948

• Coeliac disease as a model for understanding multiple sclerosis.

  Drosu N, Bjornevik K, Cortese M, Levy M, Sollid LM. Nat Rev Neurol 2024 11

  PMID: 39379493

• Flavonoid intake and risk of Parkinson's disease.

  Sandoval-Insausti H, Flores-Torres MH, Bjornevik K, Cortese M, Hung AY, Schwarzschild M, Yeh TS, Ascherio A. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2024 Jun 17

  PMID: 38267207

• Serologic Response to the Epstein-Barr Virus Peptidome and the Risk for Multiple Sclerosis.

  Cortese M, Leng Y, Bjornevik K, Mitchell M, Healy BC, Mina MJ, Mancuso JD, Niebuhr DW, Munger KL, Elledge SJ, Ascherio A. JAMA Neurol 2024 May 01

  PMID: 38497939