Rowling gives £10m to MS research

The writer of the Harry Potter books said she believed the clinic at the University of Edinburgh would become a world centre for excellence in its field.

It is also hoped work at the facility will help researchers to find out more about other incurable neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease.

The clinic will be named after Rowling’s mother Anne, who had multiple sclerosis and died at the age of 45.

The author said the new clinic, which is expected to be completed within a year, would place patients at the heart of the research and treatment process.

In a statement released yesterday, she said: “It is with great pleasure and pride that I am donating 10m to the Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh, which is to be named after my mother, Anne.

“I have supported research into the cause and treatment of multiple sclerosis for many years now, but 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 unravelling the mysteries of MS than any other I had read about or been asked to fund.

“I am incredibly impressed by the calibre of clinicians and researchers that Edinburgh has already managed to attract to make this project a reality, and I truly believe that it is set to become a world centre for excellence in the field of regenerative neurology.”

The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic will be based in a purpose-built facility within the University’s Chancellor’s Building, next to the city’s Royal Infirmary at Little France.

The university said Ms Rowling’s 10m was the single largest donation she had given to a charitable cause.