The rapidly progressive neurological disease affects around 5,000 people in the UK.
Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and Dementias Platforms UK (DPUK) have been awarded £2 million in funding to launch a new initiative to accelerate research into motor neurone disease.
Supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute, the MND Research Data Catalyst is funded by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and delivered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
MND, which currently affects around 5,000 people in the UK, is a fast-progressing, fatal neurological disease caused by proteins building up and clumping in the brain, gradually stopping cells from working.
This new initiative is supported by the UK Government in partnership with charities and organisations including NIHR, UK Research and Innovation, MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, MND Scotland and LifeArc, as well as the MND research community, and aims to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics and treatments and improve care for people with MND.
The initiative will leverage the UK’s large-scale health data infrastructure and foster collaborative partnerships across the MND research field, based on user-centred design principles.
Furthermore, we will co-create solutions with the MND research community across the UK to ensure unmet needs are addressed and enable novel, high-impact research outcomes.
Professor John Gallacher, Director of DPUK, commented: “We hope that this catalyst will make a fundamental contribution to MND care and deliver high quality translational science.”
Dr Roswyn Walker, Strategic Director at HDR UK, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with DPUK, UK DRI and the whole MND research community to build a secure data platform that will facilitate the use of trusted data to save lives.”
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, Director of UK DRI, who supports the initiative, commented on the collaboration: “By joining forces with HDR UK, DPUK and the MND research community to deliver the MND Research Data Catalyst, we can drive real change for people affected by this devastating disease.”
