How can I help the research?
How can I help the research?
There are many ways that people with MND and the public can help our research.
For people with MND and their families/carers
Sign up for a research project
We need you! People with MND in Scotland, and occasionally their carers/families too, can participate in our clinical research studies that aim to understand the causes and effects of MND.
MND-SMART is our current MND clinical trial that is actively recruiting people with MND. To find out more about the trial, including if there is a research centre near you and how you can register interest, visit www.mnd-smart.org.
We maintain, with the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, the national register of everyone with MND in Scotland part of CARE-MND. The register captures demographic (e.g. gender, location) and clinical data. Even gathering simple statistics such as age and first symptom can be enormously powerful in sufficient numbers to help researchers understand more about MND and consider why people develop the condition. CARE-MND is also there to ensure that there is equality of world-class care and access to research, for everyone with MND from Stranraer to Lerwick.
Donate a sample
Biological samples from people with MND are invaluable to research. Through the Regenerative Neurology Tissue Bank, people with MND in Scotland can donate a sample of blood or saliva if they wish. With their consent, this can be used to find out more about the genes that are involved in MND.
Some people might even consider donating their brain when they die, to provide scientists with an invaluable resource for future research.
- Find out more about the Regenerative Neurology Tissue Bank
- Find out more about donating your brain to research
For people with MND and the public
Donate money, or fundraise for us
Scientific experiments are, unfortunately, expensive. As scientists we don’t take shortcuts: experiments have to be repeated and ideas tested in multiple ways. Cutting-edge equipment can easily run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Most of our research is funded by government or charity research grants that our investigators apply for competitively, with only the most promising research being funded.
Our wonderful donors and fundraisers make a hugely important contribution by supplementing the funding received in research grants. Donations fund PhD students and 'seedcorn funding' for pilot projects to develop new ideas that may become larger research studies, as well as important equipment and chemicals for our labs.
Find out more about MND and spread the word
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook, come along to an open evening or attend a lecture. Find out more about MND and what we do, then tell all your friends!
