Euan MacDonald Centre
University of Edinburgh centre researching motor neurone disease treatments.
The Euan MacDonald Centre, part of the University of Edinburgh, was founded in 2007 to help people with motor neurone disease (MND). It was partly funded by Euan MacDonald, diagnosed with MND in 2003, and his father Donald MacDonald. The centre both researches MND and provides clinical care. In Scotland alone, about 130 people are diagnosed with MND each year.
Quick Facts
- Established
- 2007
- Part of
- University of Edinburgh
- Founding donors
- Euan MacDonald and Donald MacDonald
- Euan macdonald diagnosis year
- 2003
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- In 2013, the centre announced a new partnership with the J9 Foundation which provides support for people with MND in South Africa.
- Discoveries by the centre include the finding that Zebrafish are able to produce motor neurones when they repair their spinal cords from injury.
- In 2021, The Euan MacDonald Centre announced a discovery that sheds light on how nerve cells damaged by MND can be repaired.
MND-SMART
The MND-SMART clinical trial was created by experts across the UK, with the Euan MacDonald Centre taking the lead alongside University College London and the University of Warwick. Funding comes from private backers and donors to the Euan MacDonald Centre, as well as MND Scotland and the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. This trial is designed to evaluate several treatments at once against a single placebo group. It will begin by testing drugs already approved for other conditions, like Alzheimer's disease and depression. If a medicine proves ineffective, it can be removed, and new drugs can be added after the trial begins. This method could significantly speed up the process of getting effective treatments to patients.
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