A major new project into treatments for motor neuron disease has received substantial funding from a group of charities and government research organisations.
In total, £4.25 million has been awarded to the project aiming to develop effective treatments in the near future.
Among the donors are the charities LifeArc and the MND Association, together with the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Research groups at King’s College London, the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, Oxford and Edinburgh will collaborate on the new ‘MND Collaborative Partnership’.
Co-director of the project Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi of King’s College London said: “Our goal is to discover meaningful motor neuron disease treatments within years, not decades.
"We now have a much better understanding of motor neuron disease, so we must take this opportunity to accelerate development of new treatments and work together to move this knowledge into the clinic and help people affected by this devastating disease.”
Over the next three years, the group plans to coordinate research efforts for maximum impact, develop better tests to measure disease progression, improve disease registers, and support patients to take part in clinical trials.
Co-director Professor Christopher McDermott of the University of Sheffield added: “We believe that by combining and coordinating our expertise, we will be more effective than if we work on projects in isolation.
"This partnership will provide the infrastructure to attract additional funding and enable further centres and researchers to join forces in the national effort to find effective treatments."
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