The Ramsay Research Fund is the research arm of the ME Association – the UK’s longest-established national ME/CFS charity. It is named after Dr Melvin Ramsay, an infectious diseases consultant who documented a major outbreak of the illness at London’s Royal Free Hospital in 1955.
Current research projects include a scheme to set up a central ME tissue bank in a UK hospital. It is important to be able to identify any anomalies in the brain, spine and muscle tissue of people with ME/CFS which can be used as unique markers of ME/CFS. Tissue samples can be made available to any research group wanting to make use of them. Tissue banks already exist for Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological conditions, and the Fund wishes to follow these examples.
The RRF is also funding a study at the University of Newcastle into abnormalities in muscle physiology which may indicate where there is skeletal muscle involvement in the exercise-induced fatigue which is a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS. This study will take forward findings from small studies that have already examined this aspect of muscle function.
The RRF has also recently finished funding a key phase of important new research at Glasgow Caledonian University into the genetic profiles of people with ME/CFS, which will hopefully lead to a diagnostic test and effective forms of treatment.
More details of these studies and other research funded by the RRF over the years are available in the leaflet ‘The Ramsay Research Fund Explained’.
Tony Britton, Publicity Manager, ME Association
I offer a new moneysaving tip each week and you donate part of any saving direct to biomedical research charities
Grand total raised is £11,174 as of this week; £7,169 MERUK and £4,005 RRF, including all Justgiving pages and offline donations direct to charities. Keep on giving!
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