MRC in partnership with NIHR are seeking to encourage high-quality funding applications in MND to any of our research board or panel grant or fellowship opportunities.
About MND
MND is a devastating neurodegenerative disease, characterised by loss of motor neurone function. In patients suffering with MND, signals from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles causing them to weaken, stiffen and waste.
MND affects adults of any age but is more likely to affect people over the age of 50.
Currently, there are approximately 5,000 people living with MND in the UK, and the lifetime risk of developing MND is 1 in 300.
The average life expectancy of someone with MND from diagnosis is just 18 months and there is currently no cure. Treatments for MND therefore focus on helping reduce the impact MND has on a person’s daily life.
Research on MND is at an exciting juncture. Significant advances in understanding disease pathogenesis and identifying therapeutic targets are attracting unprecedented interest from industry and a genuine optimism that this disease is tractable.
Scope
Through this highlight notice, applicants are invited to submit innovative research proposals to MRC that aim to:
- improve the mechanistic understanding of MND, including identification and validation of new biomarkers
- investigate potential new therapeutic avenues
Find out about NIHR’s specific remit requirements.
Through this highlight notice, MRC and NIHR are encouraging applicants to work in partnership across the MND research community and with researchers in other relevant and aligned areas. Applicants will thereby continue to build upon the neurodegenerative research ecosystem.