The purpose of the
Neurosciences Research Foundation is to help our many patients, suffering from
diseases which are often terrible. The
central nervous system is immensely complex and our scientific understanding of
its diseases is often very limited. Too many diseases of the brain and spinal
cord are still untreatable and any progress in finding effective treatment
depends on medical research.
The Neurosciences
Research Foundation was set up thirty years ago to help continue the research
into diseases of the brain and spinal cord at Atkinson Morley’s Hospital for
which the hospital was famous. The Nobel laureate Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, for
instance, had developed CT brain scanning there in 1972 - a world first that
transformed medicine. Atkinson Morley’s
Hospital was closed in 2003 and the neuroscience services transferred to St.
George’s Hospital, where we have continued to carry out ground-breaking
research, with work on spinal cord injuries, molecular biochemistry and
movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease.
