Reading Time: 2 minutes In the past 15 years, I have seen MND move from a scientific ‘backwater’ to the forefront of neurodegenerative disease research. It is noticeable these days how often MND is mentioned in the same sentence as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease – both far more common conditions – which reflects how awareness of MND has…
Reading Time: < 1 minute I have been lucky in the past two years to work at the International Symposium on ALS/MND, and am always inspired by the enthusiasm, and commitment of the delegates attending. Observing all the discussions and networking which takes place during the lunch/dinner breaks is always an exciting time, along with hearing about the new…
Reading Time: 2 minutes My reasons for being an ‘incurable optimist’ is the increasing amount of research being carried out and the number of researchers interested in MND and in collaborating to solve the mystery of this terrible disease. The difference now from when I started with the Association over 20 years ago (as a very young woman!)…
Reading Time: < 1 minute I am optimistic every time I prepare a talk when I look for something new to say about advances in research. Since the discovery of the TDP43 mutation in 2008, I have become spoilt for choice! Every year I have been able to talk about new genetic discoveries to the local groups, branches and healthcare…
Reading Time: < 1 minute After being asked to write about why I am a research optimist, I tried to think about the achievements in MND research. After attending the Care Centre directors meeting I have seen that there is not just biomedical, lab based research going on, there is also a lot of clinical research going on within our Care Centres. This…
Reading Time: < 1 minute MND does not respect national boundaries and neither does our research efforts. There are so many researchers, clinicians and health and social care professionals from around the world who dedicate their whole careers to unlocking the secrets of MND. What makes me optimistic about research, are the people who push research to the next level.…
Reading Time: < 1 minute Next week is MND awareness week (19 June to 27 June). Awareness week sees the national launch of our brand new awareness campaign called Incurable Optimism, led by Patrick Joyce who has MND. To celebrate the launch of our new campaign, each member of the research development team will be posting why they are incurably optimistic about MND research…
