The Alan Davidson Foundation has renewed its commitment to motor neurone disease (MND) research in Oxford by supporting the ACORN study for a further three years.
The Alan Davidson Foundation, which began funding ACORN in 2021, will continue to fund a full-time project manager to facilitate the ongoing coordination and growth of the study, as well as contributing to the cost of a research fellow to support the next phase of the project, which is led by the Oxford Motor Neuron Disease Centre in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN) and supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.
The study, which focuses on individuals with a genetic predisposition to MND and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), aims to detect early biological changes that occur before the onset of symptoms, contributing to a deeper understanding of these devastating conditions and improving the chances of early interventions.
The Alan Davidson Foundation was founded in 2015 by Alan Hayes Davidson, a pioneer in architectural illustration and visualisation. Diagnosed with MND in 2012, Alan dedicated the final years of his life to supporting research and improving palliative care. He established the foundation to ensure long-term support for initiatives in these fields, as well as in architecture. Since his death in 2018, the foundation has ensured the continued impact of Alan’s legacy through strategic grant-making and partnerships, particularly in the area of MND research.
Jane Craik, Trustee of the Alan Davidson Foundation, says: “We are very proud to be supporting this project to make MND preventable. It’s been very gratifying to see the project from its inception to where it is today under the leadership of Professor Kevin Talbot and Professor Martin Turner. The whole team working on this is first class and I know Alan would be particularly enthused that the project is bringing the international scientific community together.”
The ACORN study has made strong progress since its launch two years ago. 100 people have now joined the study, including individuals living with or at risk of inherited MND and FTD, as well as healthy volunteers.
The research team is using brain scans, activity monitors and shared data to better understand how the earliest signs of disease appear before symptoms develop. The study is also now working in partnership with other major international research efforts, with early findings already shared at the MND Association International Symposium in Montreal.
Professor Kevin Talbot, Head of the NDCN, founder of the Oxford MND Care and Research Centre and Oxford BRC Theme Lead for Preventive Neurology, says: “The ACORN project is leading the way in efforts to find early interventions for MND and working towards the goal of making the disease preventable one day.
“Support from the Alan Davidson Foundation has been critical to building the project team. I feel sure that Alan would have been excited to see the progress we have already made.”