A major project aimed at using new medical techniques to help patients with incurable diseases gets under way today – with the help of creator of Harry Potter.
The neurological diseases research clinic in Edinburgh will seek to test new techniques of regenerative medicine, under development in the city.
The clinic was being officially opened by Princess Anne today.
The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh focuses on clinical research for treatments that will slow progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as autism and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The clinic, named after Harry Potter writer JK Rowling’s mother, who died of multiple sclerosis at the age of 45, began work in January a purpose-built facility within the University of Edinburgh’s Chancellor’s Building, next to the city’s Royal Infirmary and within the flagship life sciences project Edinburgh BioQuarter.
Ms Rowling, who donated £10 million to establish the clinic, said: "I am moved and elated to see the Anne Rowling Clinic formally opened today by HRH The Princess Royal.
“Having observed the plans for the clinic develop and expand to fulfil the needs of patients, clinicians and researchers, I am now very proud to see the building finished and operating as the beating heart of this centre for excellence.”
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, professor of neurology and co-director of the clinic, said: “Only by better understanding the biological processes behind these devastating diseases can we identify new targets for potential therapies and take them into clinical trials.”
Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, co- director of the clinic and director of university’s Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: “The clinic’s location at the heart of this campus draws on the university’s world-class strength in neuroscience, stem cell research and regeneration.
"Because of the Anne Rowling Clinic’s unique capacity for bench-to-bedside research, in time we expect be able to translate laboratory discoveries into real benefits for patients.”
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