Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has donated £15.3m to the University of Edinburgh, to help create new facilities and support vital research at a clinic specialising in neurological conditions that was established by the author in her mother’s name with a £10m donation in 2010.
The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic is named in memory of her mother who died of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1990, aged 45. The donation will help improve outcomes for generations of people with multiple sclerosis. The clinic has established itself as an integrated care and research facility focusing on MS and neurological conditions with the aim of bringing more clinical studies and trials to patients.
The author’s gift will also support research projects focusing on invisible disabilities experienced by people living with MS such as cognitive impairment and pain. University experts hope the donation will have an enduring global legacy that will have a lasting impact on people with MS and their families.
The author, who has an estimated wealth of £750m, has given away many millions to charity. She said: “When the Anne Rowling Clinic was first founded, none of us could have predicted the incredible progress that would be made in the field of Regenerative Neurology, with the Clinic leading the charge.
“I am delighted to now support the Clinic into a new phase of discovery and achievement, as it realises its ambition to create a legacy of better outcomes for generations of people with MS and non-MS neurodegenerative diseases.”
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, Clinic Director, said: “This incredibly far-sighted and generous donation will unlock the potential of personalised medicine for people with MS in Scotland and further afield.”
