Aug 2010 

A research clinic for patients with multiple sclerosis is being set up at the University of Edinburgh following a £10 million donation from the author J K Rowling. The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic will place patients at the heart of research to improve outcomes for multiple sclerosis sufferers. This will focus on patient-based studies to help find treatments that could slow progression of the disease, working towards the eventual aim of stopping and reversing it. The Centre will be based in a purpose-built facility within the University's Chancellor's Building, next to the Royal Infirmary and within Edinburgh BioQuarter at Little France. 

This development will build on Edinburgh's strong track records in patient-focused clinical research on neurological disorders and in imaging of the brain and nervous system. Work at the clinic will also provide insight into other degenerative neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Motor Neurone Disease. 

Clinical academics will work closely with a critical mass of researchers studying neurodegenerative disorders already based at the University. This will include expertise from the Centre for MS Research, the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, the Centre for Neuroregeneration, Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research and the Division of Clinical Neurosciences. 

Siddharthan Chandran, Professor of Neurology, director of the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research and co-director of the Centre for MS Research  said: 'MS has many features in common with other neurodegenerative disorders. As a result, any discoveries from the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic will help us advance our understanding and treatment of all these related neurological diseases. Finding ways to slow progression of these conditions will make an enormous difference to patients' lives."