Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fresh funding announced for MND research

Post Thumbnail

Fresh funding has been announced for the development of new treatments for motor neurone disease (MND).

TheĀ  Scottish Government and the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh will provide Ā£400,000 for research on the condition.

The announcement comes just over a year after the death of Fife MND campaigner Gordon Aikman who raised more than Ā£500,000 for research.

The Kirkcaldy man also successfully lobbied the First Minister to publicly fund and double the number of specialist MND nurses across Scotland before he died from the debilitating disease in February last year, aged 31.

The new money will support two postdoctoral posts at the university over the next three years.

The scientists will work in partnership with the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research, a Scotland-wide research network.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “We want to ensure that people living with neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease, which is diagnosed in around 200 Scots annually, have access to the best possible care and support across the country.

“This partnership between the Scottish Government’s chief scientist office and the University of Edinburgh will allow us to build on our previous MND research funding, which includes a number of Ph.D studentships totalling almost half a million pounds over five years.

“This continues the work we’ve done with a number of stakeholders in recent years.

“For example, not only did MND Scotland support us in the creation of these studentships, but we’ve worked with them to double the number of MND specialist nurses.

“We’re also working with The Neurological Alliance of Scotland, NHS boards, integration joint boards and those who live with neurological conditions on Scotland’s first national action plan on neurological conditions.”

Mr Aikman, who was diagnosed with MND in June 2014 while working as director of research for the Better Together campaign, worked tirelessly to secure increased funding to find a cure.

He won the support of all political parties UK-wide and was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2015.