New drug potential game-changer for MND treatment

A leading neuroscientist highlights how scientists are making significant steps forward in discovering treatments for neurological disorders — but more can be done.

Professor Dame Pam Shaw discusses the impact of devastating neurological conditions such as Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis, on patients and their families and carers.

“I want to see the same momentum and urgency for the treatment of neurological disorders as there is for cancer,” says Shaw, Professor of Neurology at the University of Sheffield and honorary consultant neurologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

Flagship research

However, she believes scientists are on the brink of developing effective treatments for neurological disorders that are becoming more common as people live longer.

Shaw is Director of the Neuroscience Institute, one of the University of Sheffield’s flagship research centres, which combines expertise in medicine, science and engineering to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of neurological, sensory and development disorders.

Improving outcomes

Researchers at the Neuroscience Institute recently completed a Phase 3 clinical trial, investigating a rare type of MND (responsible for 2% of MND cases) caused by a faulty SOD1 gene. Following the trial, patients reported symptom progression had slowed down 12 months after taking

Paid for by The University of Sheffield