MND Association - England, Wales and Northern Ireland - Research Feed

‘Hothouse’ meeting on drug discovery
Sadie’s recent post on the emerging partnership between Peakdale Molecular and the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience prompted me to say a little about last month’s Drug Discovery Workshop, held in Washington DC and organised our friends at the ALS Association. I was fortunate to be invited along to this workshop, which brought together over 100 [...]

Match-making to find a new treatment for MND
Translating recent scientific discoveries in MND into the development of new and better treatments is a major challenge we face. To facilitate this process within the UK, we’ve recently played a role in match-making a key UK academic neuroscience department and a commercial organisation. Pharmaceutical industry – the big, the small and the CROs Discovery [...]

Have your say on emerging technologies
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics are currently asking for views on a number of technologies that people affected by MND may have a view on. They are seeking views on both the medical and non-medical applications of neural stem cell therapy, brain computer interfaces, deep brain stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation.  To find out how [...]

May The Fourth Be With You – PhD Studentship Applications
Spring has finally sprung and so it’s now time to open our online summary application form for our next round of research grant applications. This round is for PhD studentship applications, for projects starting in October 2013. The deadline for summary applications is Friday 4 May 2012. Attracting promising researchers Through our successful PhD studentship [...]

Sharing and networking in Liverpool
From Sunday morning to Tuesday evening last week, there was a lot of talk of MND research going on in Liverpool. The reason for this ‘hotspot’ of discussions was due to the annual meeting of an international consortium of MND researchers taking place at the University of Liverpool. The 10th International Consortium on SOD1 and [...]

Zebrafish study provides innovative ideas for new treatment strategies
A study on zebrafish has increased our understanding of how motor neurones work and has provided potential clues for the development of future treatments for MND. The study, led by Dr Catherina Becker from University of Edinburgh, showed that a unique motor neurone repair system found in zebrafish can be enhanced if a particular signal called Notch1 is [...]

Disappointing results from UK based lithium clinical trial
Yesterday, we announced on our website the disappointing news that the UK-based lithium clinical trial showed that lithium carbonate is ineffective at treating MND. Commenting on the lithium clinical trial, Dr Brian Dickie, our Director of Research Development said: “As many people will know, when lithium was first proposed as having benefit in MND, a [...]

Cogane produces encouraging results in MND Association-funded study
Thanks to funding and some strategic ‘match-making’ by the MND Association, a new drug may have taken one step closer to beginning clinical trials in MND after producing promising results in an animal model of the disease. The drug, known as Cogane, was developed by the biotechnology company Phytopharm. It had already demonstrated in laboratory [...]

Our DNA bank appeal to feature on BBC Radio 4
Sunday 8 January is not only a celebration of Prof Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday, it’s also the date when the MND Association’s DNA bank appeal will be launched on BBC Radio 4. Our DNA bank contains over 3,400 samples from people with MND and their families.  By using these samples scientists in this country have [...]

Happy New Year – Quiz answers and round up of 2011!
And the answers to our Christmas Quiz are: How many neurones does a human have? Billions Which animal has the largest brain? Bottlenose dolphin How much does a human brain weigh in comparison with our total average body weight (in percent)? 2 How many DNA samples does the MND Association’s DNA bank hold? 3,400 How [...]