The Heaton-Ellis Trust aims to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease. The Trust started with a goal to raise over £1million to fund the research programme headed by Professor Chris Shaw at the department of Clinical Neuroscience at King’s College Hospital in London.
Since beginning in 2009, the trust has met its initial £1million goal and Professor Shaw’s team has made incredible advances. The Trust remains dedicated to supporting the work of Professor Shaw’s team.
The research funded by the HET has been a trigger for other organisations to get involved in funding. For example, a major US based drug company is funding the whole genome sequencing of 1000 MND DNA samples. This decision was directly influenced by Professor Shaw’s research.
The Heaton-Ellis Trust and its supporters should be extremely proud of the contribution their funding has made. Finding a cure for MND is now seen as an achievable goal.