Euan_MacDonald_Centre
Euan MacDonald Centre
Research centre of the University of Edinburgh
The Euan MacDonald Centre is a research centre which is part of the University of Edinburgh. The centre was established in 2007 and seeks to improve the lives of patients with motor neurone disease (MND).[1] The centre was part funded by a donation by Euan MacDonald, who was diagnosed with MND in 2003, and his father Donald MacDonald.[2][3][4] In addition to conducting research, the centre also offers clinical treatments. Around 130 are diagnosed with MND each year in Scotland alone.[5]
In 2013, the centre announced a new partnership with the J9 Foundation which provides support for people with MND in South Africa.[6] Discoveries by the centre include the finding that Zebrafish are able to produce motor neurones when they repair their spinal cords from injury[7] and abnormalities in the protein TDP-43 result in the death of motor neurone cells.[8]
The Euan MacDonald Centre is currently leading a new UK-wide clinical trial, MND-SMART which aims to find treatments for MND.
In 2021, The Euan MacDonald Centre announced a discovery that sheds light on how nerve cells damaged by MND can be repaired.[9]