World famous author JK Rowling has offered more than $15.4 million to open a research facility in Edinburgh, Scotland to try and find a cure for multiple sclerosis.
The new facility, based at the University of Edinburgh, is to be named The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic in memory of the author’s mother who died from the neurological disease at the age of 45, reports Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
In a statement released today, Rowling said how thrilled she was to be able to support a cause so close to her heart. “It is with great pleasure and pride that I am donating £10 million,” she said. “When I first saw the proposal for this clinic, I knew that I had found a project more exciting, more innovative, and, I believe, more likely to succeed in unraveling the mysteries of MS than any other.”
Multiple sclerosis causes the protective layer surrounding nerve cells in the brain to break down which leads to nerve cell damage. The exact cause of the disease is not fully understood, and researchers are still trying to find a cure. Although it is notoriously difficult to diagnose, it is believed that more than 2.1 million people suffer from the disease worldwide.
The research center, which is expected to open within the next 12 months, will focus on patient-based studies to help find treatments that could slow progression of the disease, working towards the eventual aim of stopping and reversing it. It will also be used for research into other incurable neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and motor neuron disease.
It’s a magical story indeed.
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