Reading Time: 4 minutes In 2021, the MND Association, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and medical research charity LifeArc established a joint fund – the Motor Neuron Disease Translational Fund – to support translational research in motor neurone disease. In January 2023, £1 million was awarded to researchers at University College London (UCL) to progress two promising new therapies,…
Reading Time: 6 minutes A recent paper (October 2022), published in the journal Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research suggests that evidence of MND can be seen inside people years before they develop physical symptoms. The paper titled ‘pTDP-43 aggregates accumulate in non-central nervous system tissues prior to symptom onset in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a case series linking archival surgical biopsies…
Reading Time: 6 minutes As part of our Symposium Spotlight series, we’re looking back on some of the research presented at the 32nd International Symposium on ALS/MND. This blog takes a closer look at the Stephen Hawking Memorial Lecture (supported by The Stephen Hawking Foundation) which was presented by Professor Jennifer Doudna, a joint Nobel Prize winner for her…
Reading Time: 4 minutes My name is Oscar Wilkins and I am a PhD student working with Professors Pietro Fratta (recipient of a MND Association Research Fellowship) and Jernej Ule. Recently, in collaboration with Sarah Hill and Michael Ward, a team led by PhD student Anna-Leigh Brown, postdoctoral researcher Matt Keuss and myself uncovered a promising new target for…
Reading Time: 6 minutes Each year, MND Associations across the globe mark 21 June as a special day of recognition, acknowledging the impact that MND has on people around the world. MND is a global problem. It does not discriminate, and for every person diagnosed the effects of the disease will be forever felt by their families and friends.…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Each year, MND Associations across the globe mark 21 June as a special day of recognition, acknowledging the impact that MND has on people around the world. MND is a global problem. It does not discriminate, and for every person diagnosed the effects of the disease will be forever felt by their families and friends.…
Reading Time: 4 minutes What MND Association funding means to researchers – our PhD students Each year, MND Associations across the globe mark 21 June as a special day of recognition, acknowledging the impact that MND has on people around the world. MND is a global problem. It does not discriminate, and for every person diagnosed the effects of…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Guest researcher blog post written by Matthew Nolan. My name is Matthew, I’m currently a post-doctoral researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the USA, supported by a Cullen Education and Research Young Investigator Award. Last year I finished my MND Association-funded PhD at the University of Oxford, where I was supervised by…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Much like fictional superheroes who are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable with their supernatural abilities, a newly discovered class of ‘Hero’ proteins with unusual properties can prevent toxic protein aggregation seen in several neurodegenerative disorders, such as MND. This finding may have potential for new treatments and applications in biotechnology.
Reading Time: 6 minutes A new model of MND in mice made using CRISPR technology to edit TDP-43. The mice have cognitive changes and have uncovered new insights into MND- FTD mechanisms.
