Reading Time: 5 minutes In July we hosted our annual event for early career researchers (ECRs) in the UK. MND EnCouRage UK is a two day event which aims to support ECRs to build skills and connections which will help them move forward in their careers and continue to work within MND research. One of these skills is communicating…
Reading Time: 7 minutes Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh have developed a new tool that could help to detect signs of MND in cells before symptoms of the disease start. This work was recently published and was previously presented at the 34th International Symposium in Basel by Dr Jenna Gregory. The new tool…
Reading Time: 7 minutes Each year the 11th of February sees the world recognise and celebrate the contributions of women in science. The International day of Women and Girls in science was established by the United Nations to promote gender equality and encourage more women and girls across the world to aim to build a career in science. It…
Reading Time: 4 minutes My name is Dr Hannah Smith, and I’m a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh. My project is supervised by Professor Tom Gillingwater, and my work is funded by MND Scotland. My current research focuses on comparing healthy motor neurons and those with MND/ALS, specifically focusing on early changes to the cellular machinery and how the motor neurons produce the proteins they need to function. I’ll discuss the specifics of that, and why we are interested in finding out this information, in the next section.
Reading Time: 5 minutes Recent research, led by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and University of Dundee, has identified abnormalities in a type of brain cell called microglia in MND associated with mutations in the C9orf72 gene. It has been suggested for a long time that motor neurons may not be the only type of cell involved in…
Reading Time: 3 minutes A study conducted by researchers at the Euan MacDonald Centre at the University of Edinburgh has shed light on how improving the function of mitochondria – the power supply of nerve cells – could be a potential treatment for motor neurone disease, paper published this week in the journal, Acta Neuropathologica (2021). This study paves…
Reading Time: 3 minutes At last year’s International Symposium on ALS/MND in Perth, Australia, Professor Jeffrey Iliff talked about the glymphatic system (C1 in abstract book) – a series of ‘tunnels’ containing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that distributes nutrients and removes waste from the central nervous system. Prof. Iliff’s team demonstrated that the glymphatic system fails both in the ageing…
Reading Time: 4 minutes A systematic review of existing scientific literature, performed by a team of researchers led by Dr Arpan Mehta, MRC/MND Association Lady Edith Wolfson Clinical Fellow based at the Euan MacDonald Centre, University of Edinburgh, supports the view that cerebrospinal fluid obtained from patients with ALS/MND is toxic to cells. This finding could help to establish…
Reading Time: 2 minutes We are delighted to announce that Dr Arpan Mehta has been appointed as our latest Lady Edith Wolfson Fellow, jointly funded by the MND Association and Medical Research Council. This clinical research training fellowship will help to launch his career as an aspiring academic neurologist, providing comprehensive training in cellular, molecular and bioinformatics technologies in…
Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers can create human motor neurones exhibiting signs of MND in the lab by taking skin cells from a person living with MND and reprogramming them into motor neurones. This is called induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology and gives an ‘in a dish’ human model of MND. iPSCs are being used by several of…
