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Motor Neurone Disease is a rapidly progressive degenerative condition that often proves fatal within two-five years. There is no established cure. We want to build and equip a ‘Translational Laboratory’ for Motor Neurone Disease research, within a new Institute at the University of Sheffield, where we can work to identify compounds that could translate into better treatments for patients with MND.
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Motor neurones are the nerve cells that control voluntary movement. Motor Neurone Disease (MND or ALS) is the result of motor neurone damage and cell death, causing progressive muscle weakness and wasting. MND eventually affects the limbs, speech, swallowing and breathing. The average course of the disease is only 3 years. At any one time, up to 5,000 patients in the UK have MND (the figure is 30,000 in the USA) and approximately 1,200 people die from MND in the UK each year. This new Translational Laboratory is one key element of a new ‘Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience’ at the University of Sheffield. The Institute is an £18million project that will enable us to implement our comprehensive strategy for tackling the outstanding issues that stand between MND and a cure. We are seeking a £1-2million contribution to the translational laboratory building and equipment costs. This laboratory would become a focal point for the core of our research. Our hope is that, by focusing our efforts on screening drug and small molecule libraries in models of motor neurone injury, we can identify the compounds that might give rise to the next clinical treatment for MND, improving the prognosis and quality of life for many thousands of patients suffering now and in the future. There are many, many opportunities to support research into Motor Neurone Disease by investing in The Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience; this is only one of them. To find out more, please do not hesitate to get in touch.