Announcing funding for three innovative projects through our Catalyst Awards

We released our research strategy, Catalysing a Cure, last year. In that strategy, we said we would invest in cutting-edge translational research into motor neuron disease (MND). Now, we can announce the first three projects that we will fund through our Catalyst Awards, which enable researchers to bring promising, early-stage ideas to fruition.

The three awards, totaling £225,000, will fund work to help us identify biomarkers to diagnose MND earlier, understand how MND affects our cells at a molecular level, and untangle the disease’s relationship to other neurodegenerative conditions.

The three awards go to:

1. Dr George Gorrie of the University of Glasgow, to fund his research into identifying biomarkers that will help predict MND and allow it to be treated earlier. Dr Gorrie will use a powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to study the brains of people living with MND.
2. Dr Patrick Lewis of the Royal Veterinary College, to fund his research into an incompletely understood protein that appears to play a role in MND. This protein, called tank-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), has been linked to MND by genetic analysis. Dr Lewis will explore how TBK1 affects a process called macroautophagy – a kind of cellular waste disposal system.
3. Dr Hamish Crerar of University College London, to fund work into how a protein called tau, heavily linked to Alzheimer’s disease, interacts with proteins involved in MND. A complex balancing act keeps brain proteins at healthy levels. Dr Crerar will investigate how these delicate divides are disrupted in MND and whether restoring correct protein levels can slow or stop disease progression.

These three projects will meet our priorities of funding research that helps validate therapeutic targets, accelerate new treatments, and make it more likely that breakthroughs in lab experiments eventually go on to help people affected by MND.

Over the next month, we will release more details of these projects in a series of articles - keep an eye on our website and socials to find out more.