First meeting of the virtual MND institute

The first official meeting of the virtual institute focused on MND Research is taking place today (29 November) to lay down plans for the future of collaborative research into motor neurone disease (MND).

The Institute is set to bring six of the country’s leading universities and 22 other research centres already focused on developing vital treatments for MND together in a collaborative hub. With a co-ordinated approach, leading MND researchers believe the process of translational research – which takes potential treatments out of the laboratory and into clinics – can be accelerated.

The creation of the Institute has been prompted by the success of the United To End MND campaign led by people with MND, MND charities – the MND Association, MND Scotland and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation – and researchers, which resulted in the promise of a £50 million investment in targeted MND research over five years.

A separate £4.25 million investment from the Government, the charities and LifeArc – a self funding charity specialising in accelerating promising drugs to patient trials – has kickstarted the laying of foundation blocks for the Institute.

At today’s meeting researchers, the charities and people with MND will discuss the next steps including ways of working together, timelines and priorities.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay previously shared his commitment to ‘support the MND scientific community of researchers as they come together through a network and linked through a virtual institute’. He declined an invitation to attend the meeting but the United campaign coalition will continue to work with him and his team to ensure this goal is realised as quickly and efficiently as possible.