Reading Time: 3 minutes Funded by the MND Association, international researchers have used stem cell technology to learn more about the relationship between motor neurones and their support cells. These findings highlight the potential of stem cell technology as a tool to create new human ‘in a dish’ cellular models of disease to learn more about the causes of…
Reading Time: 4 minutes A collaborative American research group, led by Prof Aaron Gitler from Stanford University School of Medicine in California, has identified a potential therapeutic target for MND using yeast. The toxic activity of the MND-linked protein TDP-43 was suppressed when a gene called DBR1 was deleted from yeast and mammal cells. The study marks the first…
Reading Time: 3 minutes A study, part funded by the MND Association and led by Prof Chris Shaw from King’s College London has been published in the June edition of the scientific journal Brain. As we part-funded this study, Prof Shaw sent us the resulting paper from his research yesterday. So, this morning after reading the paper, we thought…
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hi, I’m Heather, a PhD student from King’s College London, and a Communications Ambassador for the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND which was held in Basel last December. Over 1,300 attendees from around the world gathered to connect with researchers and people affected by MND and engage with the latest research presented in the platform presentation and poster sessions. In this blog post, I will be sharing several of my personal highlights of the symposium, which cover how differences in our genetic code can be explored to understand their effects on MND risk and progression.
Reading Time: 9 minutes Research into genetic causes of MND has greatly increased over the last few decades and gene changes have since been found to play a role in both inherited and non-inherited (sporadic) forms of the disease. Since the discovery of the first gene change in MND around 30 years ago, researchers have found over 40 gene…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Last month we held the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Basel Switzerland. This huge event allows people from across the world to come and find out what research is currently ongoing. Within this 3-day event, we heard from researchers at all stages of their career talk about what projects they have been involved in…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Every year, the team works hard to build on the previous year’s success. This year we are excited to include a series of three ALS-FTD joint sessions, in collaboration with the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, in the programme. To give you a teaser of what is to come, we are taking a closer look at the plenary speakers in the ALS-FTD sessions at the Symposium. In this blog, we explore the topics they will be presenting and find out a little more about the speakers.
Reading Time: 7 minutes Each year at the Symposium, there is a huge amount of research presented on a range of topics from across the globe. With the Symposium returning to an in-person event this year, we are keen to increase the number of updates we share for those not able to attend, including people living with and affected by MND.
To help us do this, we have launched a new Symposium Communications Ambassador Programme so we can bring more of the research from the Symposium to non-scientific audiences. This programme was open for applications from early career researchers working in MND, who were interested in helping us shine a light on MND research happening across the world. This year we have 5 early career researchers taking part in the Programme, who will gain experience and new skills in communicating research to different audiences. Before, during and after the Symposium our Ambassador’s will be helping us to share the latest research with the MND community.
Reading Time: 7 minutes Each year we invite plenary speakers who are experts in their fields to provide an overview on topics across MND research and clinical practice. This year we have 14 plenary speakers talking about ALS/MND who will discuss a wide range of topics from genetics to tissue biomarkers to improving clinical practice. In this second blog we will be taking a closer look at some of our plenary speakers this year and sharing more about the topics they will be discussing.
Reading Time: 7 minutes As the research team count down to this year’s International Symposium on ALS/MND, we will be posting blogs throughout November to give you a snapshot of some of the research being presented at this year’s event. This year marks the 34th Symposium, the largest scientific and medical conference specific to ALS/MND, and we are looking…
