Our Research - Motor Neuron Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Spinal Muscular Atrophy)
We bring together a range of different scientific approaches and disciplines in order to better understand all forms of motor neuron disease (MND), including the most common form of adult-onset MND, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the infant-onset spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Our goals are to understand more about the biology and underlying causes, improve quality of life for people living with these conditions, and work towards finding new treatments that will slow, stop and ultimately reverse them.
MND describes a group of diseases that affect motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord that lead to a breakdown and loss of motor neurons (nerve cells connecting the spinal cord to muscles), resulting in muscle weakness and paralysis. SMA is caused by genetic defects, whereas ALS is a more complex picture, likely caused by a combination of genetic changes with as yet unidentified environmental factors.
Our MND research is brought together under the auspices of the Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research which is a network of 250 scientists, doctors and healthcare professionals interested in MND research. Although anchored at the University of Edinburgh, it is Scotland wide, with members in Aberdeeen, Dundee, Glasgow, St Andrews and Stirling. The Euan MacDonald Centre was founded in 2007 by Euan MacDonald, an Edinburgh graduate and entrepreneur who has MND, and his father Donald. It is directed by Prof Siddharthan Chandran.
The Euan MacDonald Centre has a broad scope, bringing together experts in genetics, cellular & molecular biology, anatomy, animal modelling, pre-clinical therapy development, clinical neurology, psychology and social science. Work is often collaborative and inter-disciplinary, for example linking neuropathological findings with cognitive performance. Human stem cell-based work is closely linked with the UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh.
In 2020 the Euan MacDonald Centre launched MND-SMART, an innovative, multi-arm, adaptive drugs trial designed to speed up the time it takes to find medicines that slow, stop or reverse progression of MND. MND-SMART is UK-wide.
UoE researchers who work in this area include:
- Prof Catherina Becker
- Prof Neil Carragher
- Prof Siddharthan Chandran
- Prof Tom Gillingwater
- Dr Jenna Gregory
- Prof Giles Hardingham
- Dr Ross Jones
- Prof David Lyons
- Dr Lyndsay Murray
- Dr Suvankar Pal
- Prof Martyn Pickersgill
- Dr Bhuvaneish Selvaraj
- Dr Chris Sibley
- Dr Paul Skehel
- Prof Colin Smith
- Prof Tara Spires-Jones
- Dr Tom Wishart
Useful weblinks
- Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research
- Deanery of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK charity
- Spinal Muscular Atropy Europe charity