We were honoured to have Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, one of the world’s leading researchers into Motor Neurone Disease, as our pre-lunch speaker and guest of honour at our annual luncheon at the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel.
The full title of Dame Pamela’s presentation was “Neuroscience Research at the University of Sheffield: Past, present and future,” and indeed she covered all three tenses with a rundown of the department’s foundation, its current work and aspirations for future treatment of the terrible MND disease which has been highlighted in recent years by the sad demise of Rugby League hero Rob Burrow.
The neurological conditions upon which the department’s work is focussed are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and MND. One in four adults who live to be 80 will develop some type of neurological disorder. Cerebrovascular disease (stroke) is a leading cause of death and adult disability, and neuro-inflammation (multiple sclerosis) is the most common cause of disability among young adults in the UK.
Sheffield University’s £20 million research institute, based opposite the Royal Hallamshire Hospital on Glossop Road, was created through major support from alumni, patients and the general public, and opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2010. More than 300 people are involved in the research, including PhD students.
Motor neurons enable the brain to control the movement of muscles. Midlife if the commonest time for neurodegeneration, and there is a lifetime risk that one in 300-350 people will suffer from the disease. Between five and ten per cent of cases in the UK have a family history, and 70 per cent of people die within 1,000 days of the first symptom. Most people have symptoms for 12 months before diagnosis.
Dame Pamela described motor neurone disease as “one of the most distressing in medicine, with a huge, unmet need” for therapy development.
Ironically, MND often affects sporty and athletic people, such as Rob Burrow, and is more prevalent among men than women.
Treatment has improved through the ventilation of airways and the development of a ‘head up’ collar.
His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, the Honorary Patron of SITraN, championed the cause of MND research and hosted fundraising dinners at Chatsworth House.
When he himself was invited to open the new research centre in 2010, he replied that he “could do much better than that,” and was instrumental in securing the services of HM the Queen!
Collective donations of £12 million from the various patrons was the largest philanthropic gift to the University from private benefaction since the Edwardian period.