JK Rowling and the MS Society Scotland fund a new MS Resea...( The University of Edinburgh is to form ...),Health

A major donation from Harry Potter author JK Rowling will help combat Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a disease which affects one in 500 Scots. Funding for the 2.5m project will largely come from Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, which has been gifted a substantial sum from the author for this work.

The new MS Centre will be housed at The Centre for Regenerative Medicine in The Chancellor's Building, the University's Medical School at Little France. Here, scientists and clinicians will collaborate in 'bench to bedside' research which will use the latest techniques to develop therapies for MS. They will also investigate how to repair the damaged parts of the nervous system and prevent further deterioration.

JK Rowling, Patron of the MS Society Scotland said: "It means a great deal to me to be able to provide support for this much needed research centre. It is an extremely exciting step forward in the on-going battle to try to unlock the mysteries of MS and which will hopefully, one day, lead to a cure."

Sue Polson, who has MS, said: "I am delighted that Edinburgh has been chosen as the site for the new Centre. This tremendous news means that research should now move forward with greater momentum and significance for people with MS just what we've all been waiting for!"

Professor Peter Brophy of the Centre for Neuroscience Research at the University of Edinburgh welcomed the funding announcement, saying: "At the new centre, positioned in the University's Medical School and adjacent to the new research institute and the Royal Infirmary, we will be able to draw together strands of expertise to better underst
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Contact: Linda Menzies
Linda.Menzies@ed.ac.uk
44-131-650-6382
University of Edinburgh
19-Apr-2006