19 April 2013
A WORLD-class Sheffield-based consultant leading the fight against motor neurone disease has been awarded senior investigator status from the National Institute for Health Research for outstanding work in her field.
Professor Pamela Shaw, consultant neurologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust and professor of neurology at the University of Sheffield, is one of 19 distinguished clinicians and academics across the country newly appointed to the role this year. Only 201 senior researchers hold the accolade in the UK.
She is one of only a handful of appointees who have been awarded the status for the maximum five-year term.
Motor neurone disease is a rare, incurable disease which leaves muscles wasted and weak from damaged nerves. Researchers from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neurosciences (SITraN) are currently trialling a new device called a diaphragm pacing system, which delivers electric pulses to strengthen the diaphragm, the thin dome-shaped muscle which helps breathing – making life more comfortable for patients who suffer with the illness.
In the UK around six in every 100,000 people suffer from the disease, with most people being treated living only three to six months longer than otherwise expected.
Professor Pamela Shaw said: “Bringing new treatments and new hope to patients and carers living with motor neurone disease is vital, so I am delighted at the boost to our research programme that the award Senior Investigator status by the National Institute for Health Research brings.
“This award is highly sought after in research circles, and commands a research grant that will enable us to further develop new technologies and advances in our understanding of this devastating disease.”
All applicants were judged by an independent expert panel chaired by Professor Sir Alex Markham, professor of medicine at the University of Leeds. Criteria included: quality and quantity of international research, impact of research on improving patients’ health, and measures used to engage patients and public in research.
SITraN has become an international centre of excellence for basic through to applied research in neurodegenerative disease by complementing existing partnerships of academic research groups, government and charitable research funding bodies, the pharmaceutical industry and the health care sector. The centre plans to significantly accelerate and improve the pace of therapy development for motor neurone disease and related neurodegenerative conditions using the skills of a multidisciplinary team of scientists which include neurobiology, neuropathology, functional genomics, neurobiology, pharmacology and gene therapy.
ENDS
